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Prohibition 
in  Kansas 


By 

HON.  W.  R.  STUBBS 

Governor  of  Kansas 


Delivered  at  the  Great  Northern  Theatre, 
Chicago,  March  27,  1910 


Published  By 

THE  AMERICAN  ISSUE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

WESTERVILLE,   OHIO. 


HON.  W.  fc  STUBBS 


ADDRESS   OF   GOVERNOR    W.  R.  STUBBS  OF  .KANSAS, 
AT   CHICAGO,   SUNDAY,  MARCH   27'." 

In  Which  He  Tells  What  Constitutional  Prohibition  Has  Done  for  Kansas, 
Giving  a  Great  Many  Documents  in  Support  of  His  Argument. 

I  came  to  Chicago  to  defend  the  fair  name  of  Kansas  against  the  slanders  of 
those  whose  interest  it  is  to  see  our  laws  violated,  our  civilization  defamed  and 
our  state  policies  impeached. 

I  am  going  to  furnish  you  and  the  country  exact  and  indisputable  facts 
concerning  the  enforcement  and  operation  of  the  prohibition  law  in  Kansas. 
The  proof  which  I  shall  submit  to  you  would  be  accepted  as  conclusive  evidence 
before  any  court  in  the  United  States. 

I  am  anxious  to  know  whether  the  good  people  of  Chicago  are  willing  to 
credit  the  statemn  .^  of  a  combination  of  brewers  and  saloonkeepers  who  are 
spending  hundred?  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually  to  poison  public  opinion, 
and  debauch  t:.e  law  in  preference  to  the  statements  of  those  who  are  standing 
up  for  '.s  American  home,  working  and  pleading  for  decency  in  public  life  and 
making  efTo;  in  every  direction  to  build  up  a  great  state  on  the  foundation  of  a 
wholesome  morality. 

I  did  not  come  here  as  a  politician,  for  I  have  never  yet  had  either  the  time 
or  the  inclination  to  iearn  the  laws  or  tricks  of  scientific  politics. 

1  have  never  made  a  prohibition  speech  in  my  life.  I  am  a  practical,  plain- 
speaking  business  man  and  while  I  regard  the  moral  and  sentimental  sides  of 
the  question  as  constituting  its  strongest  claim  on  society  for  support  I  propose, 
to  a  very  large  extent,  to  discuss  the  subject  from  a  cold-blooded,  economic 
standpoint.  In  other  words,  I  am  going  to  present  it  to  you  as  a  sound  business 
proposition. 

When  I  was  a  candidate  for  governor  in  1908  I  made  the  campaign  for  my 
nomination  and  election  on  the  proposition  that  if  elected  to  this  office  every 
saloon,  joint  and  place  of  every  kind  whatever  regardless  of  the  sentiment  of 
the  community  had  to  be  closed.  This  proposition  was  made  in  my  campaign 
speeches  to  the  saloon  men  in  "wet"  communities  as  well  as  to  temperance 
people ;  I  stated  publicly  all  over  Kansas — in  Pittsburg  in  the  mining  districts 
as  well  as  the  localities  where  the  law  was  enforced — that  any  man  who  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  saloon  business  in  violation  of  the  laws  and  constitution 
of  Kansas  would  be  regarded  the  same  as  any  other  outlaw,  and  all  the  power 
and  force  of  the  state  government  would  be  used  to  punish  and  destroy  his 
business. 

This  does  not  mean  that  we  have  no  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law, 
for  if  there  were  no  violations  such  a  law  would  not  be  necessary.  It  does 
mean  that  the  prohibitory  law  in  Kansas  is  as  well  enforced  as  other  criminal 
statutes,  and  that  when  men  violate  it  they  are  arrested,  convicted  and  promptly 
sent  to  prison. 

The  United  States  government  has  taken  a  step  which  will  aid  materially  in 
stamping  out  the  irresponsible  bootlegger  and  whiskey  vender  who  now  is 
the  principal  violator  of  the  prohibitory  law  in  Kansas.  Under  direction  of 
President  Taft  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States  has  ordered  United 
States  district  attorneys  in  "  'dry'  territory"  not  to  compromise  with  men  who 
violate  the  internal  revenue  laws  by  permitting  them  to  pay  fines,  but  to  prose- 
cute them  and  send  them  to  jail  for  a  reasonable  time. 

I  want  to  especially  impress  the  fact  upon  your  mind  that  .while  Kansas  had 
substantial  prohibition  for  twenty-eight  years  it  has  had  absolute  prohibition 
only  since  May,  1909.  Previous  to  this  time  liquor  was  allowed  to  be  sold 
through  licensed  pharmacists,  for  medicinal,  mechanical  and  scientific  purposes. 
Abuse  of  this  privilege  led  to  dissatisfaction  and  the  last  legislature  wiped  out 
all  exceptions  and  made  the  state  absolutely  "dry."  Before  they  could  sell 
intoxicating  liquors  these  pharmacists  had  to  obtain  an  internal  revenue  stamp 
and  it  is  upon  this  circumstance  in  part  that  the  agents  and  spokesmen  of  the 
breweries  and  the  distilleries  are  trying  to  deceive  you  by  showing  the  number 
of  so-called  licenses  issued  in  Kansas  last  year. 

A  further  explanation  of  the  number  of  licenses  issued  in  Kansas  is  found 
in  the  method  of  handling  violators  of  the  Federal  stamp  law.  When  our  state 
officers  arrest  a  man  for  selling  liquor  they  notify  the  internal  revenue  officers, 
who  come  to  him  at  once  and  collect  a  Federal  license  tax,  often  times  finding 
the  man  in  jail.  This  man  is  then  quoted  by  the  breweries,  distilleries  and  sa- 
loon men  of  other  states  as  a  saloonkeeper  in  Kansas,  when  in  fact  he  is  either 

272&U7 


in  jail,  paroled  during  goo'a  Behavior,  or  under  injunction  never  to  again  engage 
in  liquor  selling  in  our  state. 

Under  our  state  law  the  finding  of  a  Federal  license  stamp  in  a  place  fitted 
up  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  primae  facie  evidence  of  violation  of 
the  prohibitory  law,  and  I  challenge  the  brewers  and  distillers  to  show  one  in- 
ternal revenue  liquor  stamp  posted  in  a  saloon  or  joint  in  Kansas. 

While  I  am  not  an  expert  in  the  affairs  of  the  local  government  of  Chicago 
I  venture  the  assertion  that  conditions  which  are  due  largely  to  the  saloon  and 
kindred  evils  of  society  constitute  your  most  disturbing  and  distracting  prob- 
lems. Usually  cities  having  an  ambition  to  solve  such  problems  commission 
delegations  of  its  wisest  and  best  citizens  to  investigate  the  treatment  of  these 
problems  by  other  communities.  As  chief  executive  of  my  state  it  would  give 
me  great  pleasure  to  welcome  delegations  from  Chicago  to  Kansas  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  them  the  results  of  prohibition.  We  have  had  commis- 
sioners from  Canada,  New  Zealand,  England  and  Australia  and  even  now  the 
governments  of  Italy  and  Russia  are  investigating  our  methods  of  dealing  with 
this  evil,  the  greatest  social  and  governmental  problem  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
today. 

If  wisdom  should  cause  you  to  send  such  a  delegation  to  Kansas  I  will 
guarantee  they  will  not  find  a  business  man  of  standing  in  the  state  who  will 
not  testify  that  prohibition  is  the  best  business  asset  of  Kansas. 

Prohibition  must  be  judged  by  results — it  must  stand  or  fall  upon  its 
merits.  The  people  of  Kansas  are  very  progressive,  very  positive  and  intensely 
practical  in  their  ideas  and  habits.  If  the  prohibitory  law  had  not  given  us  a 
better  civilization  and  a  higher  type  of  manhood  and  womanhood  it  would  have 
been  repealed  years  ago.  If  it  has  increased  drunkenness,  crime  and  perjury, 
as  saloon  men  claim  it  has  done,  the  saloonkeepers  would  all  be  supporting  the 
law  instead  of  fighting  it,  for  it  would  increase  their  revenue. 

This  is  an  age  of  conservation.  Prohibiting  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
whiskey  is  more  closely  identified  with  a  sound  con:  ervation  policy  than  are  the 
laws  prohibiting  the.  wanton  destruction  of  the  forests. 

You  may  think  that  Francis  E.  Willard  and  Gifford  Pinchot  were  far  apart 
in  their  line  of  effort,  but  they  were  not — both  were  protecting  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  American  republic. 

"Woodman,  spare  that  tree"  is  fine  sentiment,  indeed,  but  it  is  not  finer 
than  "Brewer,  spare  that  youth." 

Half  a  century  ago  slaves  were  worth  $1,200  in  this  country.  From  a 
purely  economic  point  of  view,  and  as  a  national  resource,  good,  clean,  healthy, 
well-educated  American  boys  ought  to  be  worth  much  more.  If  you  will  stop 
for  a  moment  and  think  how  many  of  them  are  annually  ruined,  and  utterly 
destroyed  by  the  saloon  and  its  influences  you  will  be  so  appalled  that  you  must 
at  least  begin  to  appreciate  the  value  of  prohibition  as  an  economic  policy. 

If  you  think  it  is  not  a  business  question  figure  carefully  on  the  annual 
revenue  derived  from  your  saloons  and  see  how  far  it  will  go  to  meet  your 
losses  of  boys  alone  through  the  criminal  institutions  which  are  fostered  under 
the  wing  of  the  grog  shop ;  for  I  assert  that  the  brewery  is  originally,  and  the 
saloon  is  ultimately,  the  spawning  place  for  the  gambler,  the  prostitute,  the 
robber,  the  wife-beater,  and,  finally,  the  murderer.  The  gambling  house  and 
the  house  of  prostitution  are  so  closely  allied  with  the  saloon  that  when  the 
latter  is  compelled  to  move  out  of  a  community  the  others  must  go  with  it  as 
they  have  done  in  our  state. 

Prohibition  in  Kansas  is  not  the  result  of  atmospheric  conditions.  The 
climate  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Reason  \ras  at  the  bottom  of  it  all.  It  was 
not  brought  about  by  fanatics  but  by  sane,  sober,  patriotic  folks  who  had  longer 
heads  and  more  common  sense  than  the  average  of  the  American  people  had  at 
that  time. 

It  was  not  a  new  theory.  It  was  as  old  as  the  abuse  of  liquor.  Eleven 
hundred  years  before  Christ  an  emperor  of  China  decreed  that  all  the  grape 
vines  be  pulled  up  by  the  roots  and  burned  to  ashes.  China  has  been  a  sober 
nation  ever  since.  Centuries  before  Christ  Lycurgus,  the  great  law  giver  of  his 
people,  did  precisely  the  same  thing  in  Greece.  The  Carthaginians  prohibited 
drinking  in  their  army  300  years  before  the  Christian  era.  Draco,  in  his  laws, 
made  drunkenness  a  capital  offense.  All  through  history  you  will  find  it  and 
wherever  it  was  observed  the  nations  became  greater  and  the  people  more 
virtuous. 

Prohibition  is  the  doctrine  of  self-defense. 

Kansas  is  simply  protecting  its  people  from  the  arch  enemy  of  human  happi- 
ness. Kansas  homes  are  protected  from  an  infinitely  worse  enemy  to  society 


than  the  burglar.  Prohibition  has  simply  muzzled  a  brute  that  is  ten  thousand 
times  more  vicious  than  a  mad  dog.  It  has  only  established  a  quarantine 
against  a  plague  more  destructive  than  cholera.  It  has  merely  cut  out  a  useless 
expense  that  was  more  burdensome  on  the  people  than  all  of  the  state  and 
county  taxes  combined. 

There  is  nothing  radical  or  unreasonable  in  helping  a  weak  man  to  carry 
his  week's  wages  home  to  his  wife  on  Saturday  night ;  there  is  nothing  fanatical 
in  enabling  her  to  send  her  children  to  school  with  good  clothes,  good  shoes  and 
a  good  dinner  in  the  little  basket. 

Prohibition  serves  the  child  as  well  as  the  man.  It  is  for  the  wife  as  well  as 
the  husband.  It  is  for  society  as  well  as  for  the  individual.  It  is  for  the  gov- 
ernment as  well  as  for  the  governed.  In  Kansas  it  pays  the  doctor  his  bills, 
the  lawyer  his  fees,  the  pastor  his  salary.  It  helps  the  milkman,  the  farmer,  the 
baker,  the  butcher,  the  grocer,  the  newsboy,  the  dentist,  the  book  store,  the 
photographer,  the  tailor,  the  dressmaker,  the  merchant  and  the  manufacturer. 
This  is  why  the  people  of  our  state  are  so  thoroughly  committed  to  its  support. 
Opposition  to  it  has  practically  ceased  in  every  quarter.  Every  political  party  in 
the  state  has  publicly  declared  for  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  law. 

But  here  in  Chicago  and  throughout  the  United  States  the  brewers,  dis- 
tillers and  saloonkeepers,  their  attorneys  and  retainers  are  telling  in  posters, 
pamphlets  and  speeches  that  prohibition  increases  crime  in  Kansas;  that  it  is 
making  a  large  crop  of  perjurers  and  hypocrites;  that  it  has  ruined  public 
credit;  caused  intolerable  taxation;  destroyed  industries;  discouraged  develop- 
ment ;  effeminated  the  people  and  reduced  them  to  pauperism ;  upset  social  rela- 
tions, and  so  on  throughout  a  long  list  of  statements  equally  false  and  absurd. 

These  charges  are  true  or  they  are  not  true.  They  are  based  on  facts  or 
they  are  utterly  without  foundation.  On  my  honor  as  a  man  and  upon  my  word 
as  the  chief  executive  of  nearly  two  million  sovereign  people  I  say  to  you  they 
are  infamously  conceived  and  maliciously  false.  The  saloon  men  are  in  desper- 
ate straits  and  are  simply  trying  to  deceive  people  who  are  aroused  by  their 
crimes  that  the  system  may  be  kept  up.  The  same  devices  were  resorted  to  by 
the  friends  of  slavery  in  this  country  but  Illinois  produced  a  citizen  who 
brought  out  the  truth  and  proved  to  the  world  that  the  country  could  get  along 
better  without  the  national  curse  of  servitude.  I  want  to  tell  you  the  truth 
about  prohibition  in  Kansas : 

First — I  assert  that  drunkenness  in  Kansas  has  been  reduced  to  such  a  point 
that  I  have  not  seen  a  drunken  man  in  the  city  of  Topeka,  a  place  of  50,000 
inhabitants,  during  the  last  twelve  months;  that  I  do  not  have  any  recollection 
of  having  seen  a  drunken  man  in  my  home  city  of  .Lawrence,  a  place  of  15,000 
people,  for  several  years;  that  in  making  a  campaign  throughout  the  entire 
state  and  delivering  public  addresses  in  ninety-two  counties  I  do  not  recall  see- 
ing a  drunken  man  during  the  year. 

So  long  as  our  sister  state  Missouri  has  saloons  in  St.  Joseph  and  Kansas 
City  right  on  our  border  there  will  probably  be  drunkenness  in  the  cities  im- 
mediately across  the  line  with  nothing  but  a  street  to  mark  the  difference  be- 
tween prohibition  and  open  saloons,  and  so  long  as  the  federal  government  re- 
gards shipments  of  liquor  as  interstate  commerce  and  permits  wagon  loads  of 
beer  to  be  peddled  in  the  streets  of  Leayenworth,  Kansas  City,  Atchison,  Pitts- 
burg  and  other  cities  along  our  border  line,  there  will  be  more  or  less  drunken- 
ness in  these  cities. 

I  have  here  with  me  a  number  of  letters  and  telegrams  from  mayors  of 
cities,  chiefs  of  police,  judges  of  courts  and  others  on  the  subject. 

Chief  Hearn  of  Hutchinson,  a  city  of  sixteen  thousand  people  says:  "July, 
1908,  'drunks'  127;  July,  1909,  'drunks'  16." 

James  McLain,  City  Marshal  of  Winfield,  says:  "Since  the  policy  of  rigid 
enforcement  of  the  prohibition  law  was  begun  in  Winfield  drunkenness  has 
diminished  85  per  cent  and  crime  growing  out  of  drunkenness  has  diminished  in 
like  ratio." 

The  report  of  the  Chief  of  Police  of  Pittsburg,  near  the  Missouri  border, 
shows  a  decrease  in  her  monthly  report  of  drunkenness  from  fifty-three  in  May, 
1008,  to  eleven  in  May,  1909.  It  went  down  to  nine  in  June  and  to  two  in  July. 
This  is  a  city  of  more  than  18,000  inhabitants. 

Second— I  assert  that  in  the  105  counties  of  Kansas  that  I  do  not  know  of 
a  conviction  for  perjury  growing  out  of  the  prohibitory  law. 

George  H.  Barker,  police  judge  at  Holton,  county  seat  of  Jackson  county, 
says  there  were  forty-six  "drunks"  in  his  court  during  the  entire  year  of  1907, 
pnly  seventeen  in  1908  and  eight  in  1909. 

L.  J,  Mosher,  police  judge  of  Hiawatha,   county  seat  of   Brown   county, 


makes  the  remarkable  report  that  he  has  not  had  a  "drunk"  in  his  court  for 
eighteen  months. 

I  have  these  letters  and  you  can  see  them. 

Third— I  assert  that  the  prohibitory  law  is  now  as  easily^  enforced  as  any 
other  law  on  the  statute  books.  I  have  letters  from  twenty-nine  of  the  thirty- 
eight  district  judges  of  the  state.  These  letters  are  substantially  of  the  same 
character  and  fully  confirm  my  statements.  I  shall  take  the  time  to  read  only  a 
few  of  them  to  you. 

El  Dorado,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor :  It'  is  easier  in  my  district  to  secure  a  conviction  for  the 
violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws 
of  the  state. 

The  people  in  my  judicial  district  are  in  full  sympathy  with  the  prohibitory 
law  and  will  not  stand  for  its  violation. 

I  hardly  ever  find  a  juror  who  does  not  believe  the  law  to  be  a  success  and 
who  does  not  approve  of  it.  With  kindest  regards,  I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

G.  P.  AIKMAN, 
Judge  I3th  Judicial  District  of  Kansas 


Ottawa,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor :  Answering  your  favor  of  March  I9th,  touching  the  ques 
tion  of  the  prosecution  of  persons  in  this  judicial  district  charged  with  violating 
the  prohibitory  law,  I  have  to  say,  that  I  believe  a  person  charged  with  selling 
intoxicating  liquor  can  be  convicted  on  less  evidence  in  this  judicial  district  than 
could  a  person  charged  with  violating  other  criminal  statutes.  This  may,  how- 
ever, be  more  apparent  than  real  in  that  the  persons  charged  with  selling  intoxi- 
cating liquor  are  usually  men  of  low  character,  whose  previous  life  has  been 
such,  and  whose  general  appearance  is  such,  that  their  testimony  is  discredited 
by  a  jury.  A  man  in  this  district  could  no  more  openly  engage  in  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquor  than  he  could  in  the  business  of  stealing  horses.  It  may  be 
that  some  liquor  is  being  sold,  but  it  is  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  dregs 
of  society,  both  black  and  white.  If  the  question  of  returning  to  the  saloon  sys- 
tem were  submitted  to  the  people  of  this  judicial  district  in  my  judgment  it 
would  be  rejected  by  more  than  90  per  cent  of  the  votes,  and  if  submitted  to 
the  farmers  and  business  men  only,  it  would  be  defeated  almost  unanimously. 
The  votes  favoring  a  return  to  the  saloon  system  would  be  received,  in  my  judg- 
ment, exclusively  from  the  very  lowest  element  in  our  population. 

Respectfully  yours, 

C  A.  SMART, 
Judge  4th  Judicial  District  of  Kansas. 


Paola,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  will  say  that  it  is  not  more- 
difficult  to  obtain  convictions  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for 
violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state.  Since  my  incumbency  in 
office  there  has  not  been  a  single  failure  to  convict  in  a  liquor  case.  Indeed, 
conviction  appears  so  certain  that  a  majority  of  those  arrested  for  violations  of 
the  prohibitory  law  plead  guilty  without  trial. 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  O.  RANKIN, 
Judge  loth  Judicial  District  of  Kansas. 

Garden  City,  Kan.,  Match  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  In  answer  to  your  inquiry  of  the  I9th  inst,  just  re- 
ceived, it  is  a  pleasure  to  say  that  convictions  are  less^  difficult  in  my  district 
for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  the  violation  of  any  other  criminal 
laws  of  the  state.  By  a  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law  for  many  years,  the 
former  prejudice  of  the  people  against  the  law  has  completely  changed  to  an 
extreme  bias  in  its  favor.  When  a  jury  is  now  impaneled  to  try  one  charged 
with  the  violation  of  this  law,  instead  of  a  juror  disqualifying,  as  he  formerly 
did,  because  of  his  prejudice  against  the  law,  he  now  often  disqualifies  on  ac- 
count of  his  frank  admission  of  the  extreme  Jbias  in  its  favor ;  and  frequently 


care  has  to  be  taken  on  the  part  of  the  court  in  protecting  the  rights  of  a  de- 
fendant to  prevent  a  conviction  without  sufficient  evidence  to  sustain  it.  A  man 
could  no  more  start  a  joint  in  Garden  City,  or  any  other  southwestern  Kansas 
town,  than  he  could  willfully  touch  a  torch  to  one  of  our  best  buildings.  No 
good  citizen  would  stand  for  it,  no  matter  what  his  views  on  the  liquor  question. 
The  _result  is,  instead  of  being  what  was  formerly  considered  the  most  law- 
less section  of  the  state,  we  have  become  the  most  law-abiding  people  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  This  judicial  district,  consisting  of  the  nine  southwestern 
counties,  embraces  a  territory  equal  in  size  to  the  entire  state  of  Connecticut 
with  little  old  Rhode  Island  thrown  in,  yet  in  most  of  the  counties  there  has 
not  been  a  criminal  case  on  the  dockets  for  over  fifteen  years,  and  in  some  of 
the  counties  there  has  not  been  a  civil  difficulty  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify 
the  calling  of  a  jury  for  the  same  length  of  time.  One  or  two  days  is  sufficient 
time  to  transact  the  entire  court  business  of  a  regular  term  in  each  of  the  five 
southwestern  counties.  The  old  argument  that  no  one  will  settle  in  a  prohibi- 
tion community,  is  answered  by  the  fact  that  our  population  has  more  than 
doubled  in  the  last  four  years,  and  instead  of  property  decreasing  in  value,  it 
has  enhanced  in  value  from  100  to  1,000  per  cent.  I  know  of  no  one  in  the  poor- 
house,  or  in  jail,  in  any  of  these  nine  counties;  and  our  people  are  as  healthy, 
happy  and  prosperous  as  can  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world,  and  may  right- 
fully challenge  comparison  with  any  other  similar  territory  with  joints  or  open 
saloons.  If  there  are  any  other  facts  in  my  possession  which  you  desire,  will  be 
glad  to  furnish  them.  Very  respectfully, 

WM.  H.  THOMPSON, 
Judge  32nd  Judicial  District. 


Fourth — I  assert  that  crime  has  decreased  in  Kansas  under  the  influence  of 
temperance  legislation.  I  will  show  you  by  the  records  of  our  penitentiary  that 
we  had  724  convicts  when  the  prohibitory  law  was  passed,  twenty-nine  years 
ago;  that  notwithstanding  a  steadily  increasing  .population  the  record  shows 
that  after  two  years  of  prohibition  the  number  decreased  to  668;  that  since  that 
time  the  population  has  increased  nearly  100  per  cent  while  the  number  of  con- 
victs has  increased  only  seventeen  per  cent.  And  here  let  me  add  that  we  have 
no  capital  punishment  in  Kansas  and  hence  prisoners  for  murder  become 
permanent  occupants  of  the  penitentiary  to  be  carried  on  the  rolls. 

At  the  present  time  more  than  50  per  cent  of  our  county  jails  are  without  a 
prisoner  under  conviction.  Last  year  forty-nine  of  the  105  counties  did  not  send 
a  prisoner  to  the  penitentiary.  We  have  only  one  convicted  prisoner  in  our 
county  jails  for  7,000  inhabitants — an  almost  unbelievable  fact  in  criminal 
statistics.  And  the  Attorney  General  estimates  75  per  cent  of  these  prisoners 
are  in  jail  for  the  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law.  Of  the  860  convicts  in  our 
penitentiary  only  143  are  natives  of  Kansas.  And  it  is  a  singular  fact  that 
while  only  17  per  cent  of  our  prisoners  are  natives  I  have  figures  from  the 
citizens  at  Joliet  and  Chester,  Illinois,  which  show  that  40  per  cent  of  your 
convicts  are  natives  of  Illinois.  We  have  no  powerful  saloon  men  in  Kansas  to 
use  their  pull  in  keeping  the  criminals  they  make  out  of  the  hands  of  the  law. 

Fifth — I  assert  that  the  business  of  Kansas  has  made  remarkable  progress 
since  the  banishment  of  the  saloon  and  adoption  of  prohibition.  The  records  of 
the  state  bank  commissioner  and  the  comptroller  of  the  federal  treasury  which 
I  have  with  me,  show  that  in  ten  years  deposits  in  Kansas  banks  have  increased 
from  $69,000,000  to  $189.000,000  and  during  the  past  ten  years  under  a  more 
rigid  enforcement  of  the  law,  bank  deposits,  per  capita,  have  increased  from  $69 
to  $113.  Since  complete  prohibition  became  effective  May,  1909,  bank  deposits 
have  increased  $11,000,000. 

Three  years  ago  open  saloons  were  abolished  in  Wichita.  Since  then  the 
weekly  clearances  have  increased  from  $1,400,000  to  $3,200,000  last  week.  There 
were  1,800  new  houses  built  in  Wichita  last  year  and  I  was  told  there  the  other 
day  that  there  are  now  800  new  houses  and  $5,000,000  in  public  improvements 
in  process  of  construction.  According  to  latest  estimates  its  population  has  in- 
creased in  the  past  three  years  from  31,000  to  62,000  inhabitants.  The  story  of  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  Wichita  is  the  story  of  general  business  conditions 
in  Kansas. 

In  the  chief  city  of  the  state,  Kansas  City>  Kansas,  the  change  from  a  "wet" 
to  a  "dry"  policy  worked  wonders  in  business  prosperity,  diminution  of  crime 
and  corresponding  social  progress. 

Some  years  ago  Carrie  Nation  purchased  and  donated  to  the  Associated 
Charities  a  home  for  drunkards'  wives.  During  that  era  preceding  the  closing 
of  the  joints  in  that  city  this  home  was  full  to  overflowing.  Within  about  a  year 


after  the  joints  were  closed  there  was  not  an  inmate  and  it  has  now  been  con- 
verted into  a  school  for  girls. 

But  let  the  Mayor  of  Kansas  City  tell  his  own  story.  In  a  telegram  to  me, 
in  answer  to  my  request,  he  says : 

Kansas  City,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

The  prohibitory  law  is  enforced  in  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  as  well  as  any  other 
criminal  statute.  In  the  last  three  years,  since  the  saloons  were  closed,  2,464 
buildings  have  been  erected  in  this  city,  exclusive  of  the  recently  acquired  terri- 
tory which  would  greatly  augment  that  number.  Six  hundred  and  twenty-five 
buildings  were  erected  in  1909.  The  record  for  1910  will  exceed  that  of  1909. 
In  one  block  on  Minnesota  avenue,  our  principal  street,  there  are  six  business 
buildings  in  course  of  erection  at  this  time.  On  this  street  rents  have  increased 
in  the  past  three  years  more  than  25  per  cent.  A  leading  grocer  on 
Minnesota  avenue  will  vacate  his  room  where  the  landlord  has  secured  a  lease 
at  a  50  per  cent  raise  in  rent.  When  the  saloons  were  closed  in  1906  the  banks 
had  on  deposit  approximately  ten  and  one-half  million  dollars.  At  the  close  of 
1909  there  was  on  deposit  seventeen  and  one-fourth  million  dollars,  indicating  an 
increase  in  the  three  years  of  six  and  three-fourth  million  dollars.  In  1906  the 
city  had  a  population  of  77,912;  today  it  has  an  estimated  population  of  110,000. 
The  city  has  been  growing  so  rapidly  that  the  board  of  education  has  hardly  been 
able  to  keep  up  with  the  demands  for  additional  school  facilities.  The  assets 
of  the  board  of  education  have  increased  from  a  valuation  of  seven  hundred 
and  six  thousand  dollars  in  1906,  to  more  than  one  and  one-fourth  million  dol- 
lars at  the  present  time.  Since  the  liquor  traffic  was  abolished  in  1906  there  has 
been  spent  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  school  buildings  and  ad- 
ditions. One  mile  of  boulevard  completed  and  three  miles  graded.  Play 
grounds  have  been  established  in  the  last  year.  Two  million  dollars  have  been 
•voted  for  municipal  water  works.  Two  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dollars 
voted  for  new  city  hall,  workhouse  and  three  fire  stations.  One  and  one-fourth 
million  dollars  issued  in  bond  to  improve  the  Kaw  river.  Labor  is  employed 
more  constantly  than  in  1906.  It  is  obvious  to  all  that  laboring  people  instead 
of  patronizing  saloons,  use  their  money  for  the  necessities  of  life,  and  retail 
merchants  are  doing  a  better  cash  business.  This  city  has  the  largest  number 
of  home  owners  of  any  city  of  its  size  in  America.  The  sentiment  for  law  en- 
forcement is  overwhelming  No  one  has  the  temerity  to  advocate  opening  the 
saloons  in  this  city.  All  legitimate  business  has  increased  since  the  saloons  were 
closed.  At  present  time  there  are  new  homes  in  course  of  construction  in  every 
part  of  the  city.  Crime  has  materially  decreased.  The  number  of  murders  dur- 
ing the  saloon  regime  averaged  something  like  fifteen,  present  about  seven  or 
eight  annually.  All  reports  indicating  depression  of  business  in  this  city  caused 
by  the  suppression  of  the  saloon  business  are  false.  For  the  first  time  in  twenty 
years  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  has  made  no  debt  for  current  expenses,  and  that 
without  any  saloon  revenue.  I  confidently  assert  that  no  city  in  America  is 
more  prosperous  nor  is  any  people  more  happy  and  contented  than  the  people  of 
Kansas  City,  Kansas. 

U.  S.  GUYER,  Mayor. 


The  story  is  the  same  everywhere.  The  song  of  prosperity,  progress  and 
contentment  is  universal  in  Kansas.  Here  is  a  statement  from  the  Mayor  of 
Topeka,  a  city  of  50,000  population. 

Topeka,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor. 

Dear  Sir :  The  prohibitory  laws  are  rigidly  enforced  in  the  capital  city,  and 
the  result  therefrom  is  very  gratifying  to  all.  It  has  lifted  Topeka  onto  a  higher 
plane,  both  morally  and  commercially.  It  goes  without  saying  that  to  stop  the 
sale  of  booze  lessens  crime,  misery,  and  poverty.  That  fact  is  demonstrated 
very  clearly  in  Topeka ;  business  is  better,  retailers  especially,  are  doing  a  larger 
and  safer  business ;  the  thousands  of  dollars  that  formerly  went  to  the  till  of  the 
jointist,  now  goes  to  the  grocer,  the  clothier,  and  the  shoeman.  The  same  blow 
that  killed  Mr.  Booze  in  Topeka  also  killed  Mr.  Gambling  House,  Mrs.  Disorder- 
ly House,  and  all  other  co-operating  cussedness.  We  have  less  crime,  less  court 
expense,  and  lower  taxes — the  levy  for  city  purposes  is  only  $6.30  on  one  thous- 
and dollars.  I  venture  the  assumption  that  not  a  saloon  town  in  the  country, 
the  size  of  Topeka,  with  all  their  booze  blood  money,  can  show  as  low  a  levy; 
and,  we  live  within  our  means — our  expenses  are  less  than  our  income  by  thous- 
ands; we  have  everything  that  any  first  class  city  should  have;  every  depart- 


ment  is  efficient,  and  no  niggardly  scrimping  is  observed  to  save  money  at  the 
expense  of  good  service.  Real  estate  values  are  climbing  the  Golden  Stairs, 
steadily  and  permanently;  every  section  of  the  city  that  was  blighted  by  the 
presence  of  Dens  of  Vice  (the  blight  having  been  removed),  are  now  respect- 
able, and  much  more  valuable.  Topeka  has  never  witnessed  such  a  building 
boom,  both  for  homes  and  for  business  buildings,  and  we  have  fewer  vacant 
houses. 

With  our  enforced  prohibition,  Topeka  is  a  better  city  to  live  in,  and  to  do 
business  in.  Respecfuly, 

WILLIAM  GREEN,  Mayor  of  Topeka. 


Sixth — Prohibition  has  worked  wonders  in  the  private  credit  of  the  state. 
Grocers  and  butchers  tell  me  that  men  who  were  "dead-beats"  under  the  drain 
of  the  saloons  have  become  debtors  of  reliability  and  standing,  and  bad  accounts 
are  a  rarity.  Garnishment  cases  have  practically  disappeared  from  the  courts. 

A  striking  instance  of  this  fact  is  the  experience  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas, 
where  previous  to  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law  there  was  a 
garnishment  court  running  from  morning  'till  night  levying  upon  the  wages  of 
the  laboring  men  of  that  city.  Within  ninety  days  after  the  abolishment  of  the 
saloon  this  court  went  out  of  business  and  there  never  has  been  any  need  for  it 
since. 

Seventh — I  assert  that  the  charge  of  higher  public  expenses,  on  account  of 
prohibition  is  particularly  untrue.  A  bulletin  issued  by  the  census  department 
makes  a  really  wonderful  revelation  in  favor  of  prohibition.  It  shows  that  the 
general  and  special  service  expenses  in  Wichita  are  $8.21  per  capita,  in  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  $11.88  and  in  Chicago  $15.66.  The  same  bulletin  shows  the  cost  of 
the  police  department  at  Wichita  to  be  58  cents  per  capita,  at  Springfield  $1.26 
and  at  Chicago  $2.64.  From  another  authoritative  source  I  get  it  that  the  cost 
of  the  police  and  militia  establishment  in  Kansas  is  only  $402,000  annually  while 
it  is  $4,700,000  in  Illinois — twelve  times  heavier  with  only  about  four  times  as 
much  population. 

Eighth — During  the  last  decade  the  taxable  property  of  the  state  has  increas- 
ed $120,000,000  annually,  aggregating  an  increase  of  $1,200,000,000  in  ten  years. 
Ten  years  ago  our  property  was  taxed  on  a  25  per  cent  basis  amounting  to 
$327,144,000,  which  indicated  a  total  valuation  of  all  taxable  property  to  be 
$1,308,576.000.  The  total  taxable  property  this  year  at  from  75  to  90  per  cent 
valuation  amounts  to  $2,511,000,000.  Kansas  today  stands  second  among  the 
states  of  the  Union  in  property  per  capita.  The  census  will  show  that  it  stands 
first  in  home  owning  citizens. 

Ninth — The  brewers  are  wasting  their  time — and  their  money  too — in 
speeches  and  documents  trying  to  arouse  public  sentiment  with  reference  to 
pauperism  in  Kansas.  Fifty-seven  of  the  105  counties  of  the  state  have  no  in- 
mates at  their  poor  farms.  Cook  county  alone,  with  all  its  palatial  saloons  and 
vibrating  breweries,  has  a  little  over  five  times  more  paupers  than  we  have  in 
the  entire  state  of  Kansas'.  The  good  state  of  Illinois  has  just  100  per  cent  more 
papuers  than  Kansas,  according  to  populafion.  And  I  venture  to  say  that  Illinois 
would  have  still  more  were  it  not  for  the  temperance  progress  she  has  made  dur- 
ing the  past  few  years.  I  have  heard  a  great  many  mean  things  said  against  pro- 
hibition but  I  have  never  before  heard  the  charge  that  it  causes  pauperism. 

Tenth — I  assert  that  Kansas  is  more  free  from  mental  and  nervous  diseases 
than  any  other  state  in  the  Union  and  that  authenticated  scientific  facts  will 
prove  that  our  temperance  policy  for  thirty  years  is  largely  responsible  for  this 
condition.  Kansas  has  fifty-four  counties  without  an  idiot.  It  has  eighty-seven 
counties  without  an  insane  inmate.  Cook  county  alone  sends  more  of  her  peo- 
ple to  insane  hospitals  at  Dunning  than  Kansas  has  in  all  her  charitable  institutions 
of  every  sort,  including  blind,  deaf,  the  dumb,  insane,  inebriates,  feeble-minded, 
incorrigibles  and  orphans.  With  twenty  per  cent  of  the  population  of  New 
York,  Kansas  has  less  than  10  per  cent  of  its  insanity.  The  brewers  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  temperance  increases  divorces  in  Kansas  although  we  have  made 
it  plain  to  them  several  times  that  the  first  few  years  of  prohibition  in  Kansas 
showed  a  45  per  cent  decrease  in  divorce  cases.  Their  logic  seems  to  be 
that  a  man  must  get  drunk  and  beat  his  wife  in  order  to  intensify  her  love  for 
him.  Ninety-six  counties  in  the  state  have  not  a  single  inebriate.  Six  of  the 
nine  counties  furnishing  inebriates  last  year  were,  strikingly  enough,  counties 
bordering  on  the  "wet"  section  of  Missouri. 

Eleventh — I  assert  that  prohibition  is  the  best  friend  of  education  and  that 
wherever  temperance  is  observed  the  school  shows  its  highest  and  best  devel- 
opment. We  have  in  our  permanent  school  fund  the  sum  of  $10,000,000  draw- 


ing  interest.  With  this  we  buy  the  municipal  bonds  of  our  own  state,  deeming 
them  the  best  security.  The  annual  interest  on  these  bonds  is  enough  to  pay  the 
present  entire  state  debt.  We  have  recently  established  normal  courses  in  100 
of  the  105  counties.  During  the  last  nine  years  the  enrollment  of  the  State 
University  has  risen  from  1,150  to  2,063;  the  normal  from  1,630  to  2,860,  and  the 
Agricultural  College  from  870  to  2,192.  Besides  that,  9,000  young  men  and  wo- 
men are  attending  denominational  institutions  and  4,548  attending  business 
colleges.  In  all,  21,000  young  men  and  women  are  attending  colleges  within  the 
state.  The  value  of  public  school  property  has  advanced  from  $10,000,000  to 
$16,000,000.  As  a  part  of  our  educational  system  we  have  nearly  700  news- 
papers and  magazines  and  I  am  told  that  98  per  cent  of  them  will  not  publish  the 
advertisements  of  a  brewery  or  a  liquor  house.  During  the  first  twenty  years  of 
prohibition  illiteracy  was  reduced  49  per  cent.  It  is  more  than  40  per  cent  lower 
than  Illinois  and  the  next  census  reports  will  give  the  state  first  place  in  educa- 
tion. The  youth  of  Kansas  has  his  eye  fixed  far  above  the  horizon  of  the  saloon. 

Twelfth — I  assert  that  the  death  rate  in  Kansas  is  lower  than  that  of  any 
other  state  or  nation  on  earth  and  that  our  condition  in  this  respect  is  due  largely 
to  our  temperance  policy.  The  annual  death  rate  in  the  state  is  only  seven  and 
one-half  to  every  1,000  inhabitants.  This  is  so  low  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  still  refuses  to  believe  in  its  accuracy,  although  it  has  been  thor- 
oughly investigated  and  reverified.  I  have  a  letter  from  the  secretary  of  our 
Board  of  Health  which  will  show  you  how  prohibition  is  prolonging  life  and 
building  up  vigorous  health  conditions  in  Kansas.  It  will  show  you  that  with 
every  advance  made  in  temperance  original  cases  of  tuberculosis  decrease  ma- 
terially. Dr.  Crumbine  tells  me  that  ten  years  of  our  present  temperance 
conditions  and  careful  enforcement  of  sanitary  regulations  will  eliminate  entirely 
native  cases  of  consumption. 

I  have  probably  200  letters,  telegrams  and  statements  from  official  sources  in 
Kansas  dealing  with  this  subject,  but  it  is  obvious  I  cannot  read  them  all  to  you. 
I  have,  however,  prepared  copies  of  these  letters  and  statements  for  the  newspa- 
pers and  persons  interested,  so  that  the  facts  can  be  fully  verified  by  statistics 
or  by  personal  investigation  of  the  conditions  as  they  exist  in  our  state. 

These  simply  increase  the  preponderate  mass  of  evidence  that  prohibitory 
liquor  legislation  is  safe  and  sane.  Supported  by  this  evidence  I  challenge  de- 
fenders of  the  saloon  to  show  twenty-five  cities  in  any  commonwealth  of  the 
Union  where  the  per  cent  of  home  owners  is  greater  and  the  per  cent  of  renters 
smaller,  where  commercial  and  financial  business  is  more  prosperous,  where  resi- 
dence and  business  property  alike  are  in  better  demand,  where  real  estate  values 
have  increased  more  rapidly,  where  greater  progress  has  been  made  in  public 
improvements,  where  men,  women  and  children  are  better  educated,  better  man- 
nered, better  clothed  and  better  fed  than  in  the  twenty-five  largest  cities  in  Kan- 
sas. If  they  cannot  do  this  their  arguments  in  defense  of  the  saloon  from  an 
economic  standpoint  must  forever  be  discredited  in  the  minds  of  thinking  men. 
Their  house  is  builded  upon  the  sand. 

Before  leaving  home  I  received  some  letters  from  prominent  men  who  have 
seen  the  operation  of  the  prohibitory  law  since  its  inception.  As  some  of  them 
have  a  national  reputation  as  supports  and  advocates  of  the  highest  standards  in 
progressive,  Christian  government  I  will  read  them  to  you. 

Chief  Justice  W.  A.  Johnston  of  our  Supreme  Court  says : 

Topeka,  Kan.,  March  24,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  In  response  to  your  inquiry  I  will  say  that  judging  from  the 
litigation  before  our  court  the  prohibitory  law  was  enforced  at  first  with  some 
difficulty.  Public  opinion  and  greater  experience,  however,  appears  to  have 
overcome  that  difficulty  and  the  law,  although  transgressed  occasionally,  is  now 
effectually  enforced  and  with  no  more  opposition  or  difficulty  than  other  laws 
prohibiting  and  punishing  ordinary  offenses.  The  closing  of  the  saloons  and 
joints  has  had  an  excellent  effect  upon  the  morals  and  material  interests  of  the 
people  of  the  state.  Among  the  consequences  of  prohibition  are  better  homes, 
happier  families,  higher  standards  of  intelligence  and  education,  and  of  course, 
a  great  reduction  in  crime.  No  statement  or  proof  is  needed  to  support  the 
claim  that  these  results  follow  the  closing  of  saloons  and  the  effective  enforce- 
ment of  the  prohibitory  _law.  They  are  the  natural  and  inevitable  results  and 
these  have  been  realized  in  Kansas.  Yours  very  truly, 

W.  A.  JOHNSTON, 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kansas. 

10 


Rev.  Charles  M.  Sheldon  of  Topeka,  author  of  that  remarkable  book,  "In 
His  Steps,"  says: 

Topeka,  Kan.,  March  17,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Friend :  I  have  no  statistics  on  the  prohibition  question  which  are 
as  strong  and  recent  as  those  you  have  already,  but  here  is  an  incident  which 
you  may  use  to  point  the  fact  of  Topeka' s  condition  under  the  law. 

Last  year  a  man  came  to  Topeka  all  the  way  from  London  to  escape  tempta- 
tion because  he  had  heard  of  prohibition  Kansas.  After  living  here  six  months 
he  told  me  he  had  never  been  in  a  city  of  this  size  where  liquor  was  so  hard  to 
get,  and  where  the  general  surroundings  were  so  favorable  from  a  social  point  of 
view  to  help  him  overcome  the  habit  of  drink.  This  man  was  a  world  traveler 
and  had  used  every  known  remedy  to  cure  himself  of  dipsomania.  I  think, 
myself,  that  this  item  comes  under  the  head  of  "vital  statistics."  It  is  one  of 
the  sort  that  does  not  "He."  '  Very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  M.  SHELDON, 
Of  the  Central  Church,  Topeka. 


The  brilliant  William  Allen  White,  author  of  "A  Certain  Rich  Man,"  says : 

Emporia,  Kan.,  October  22,  1909. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  very  kind  letter  of  the  first  asking  me  something 
about  prohibition  in  Kansas.  I  have  grown  from  childhood  to  the  age  of  forty- 
two  years  in  Kansas  an  4  I  probably  am  greatly  prejudiced  in  its  favor.  As  a 
young  man  from  the  time  I  was  sixteen  years  old  until  I  was  twenty-two,  I  never 
saw  an  open  saloon.  I  know  of  thousands  of  children  in  the  state  who  never  saw 
a  saloon.  The  law  was  adopted  in  1881  and  has  been  enforced  ever  since.  Of  course, 
it  is  enforced  better  now  than  it  ever  was  before  because  a  generation  has  grown 
up  under  the  law  that  knows  nothing  else.  The  state  never  was  as  clean  as 
it  is  today.  The  liquor  law  is  enforced  as  well  as  the  law  against  horse  stealing, 
which  does  not  mean  that  there  are  not  more  or  less  thieves  in  the  jails  for 
horse  stealing  and  that  there  are  not  more  or  less  men  in  the  jails  for  selling 
liquor.  These  laws  are  violated  and  will  be  violated  until  the  end  of  time.  If 
there  were  no  violations  of  the  law,  the  law  would  not  be  needed.  It  happens 
just  now  that  during  the  month  of  August  our  jails  are  empty.  There  is  not 
an  able  bodied  man  or  woman  in  the  poor  house.  We  have  never  had  any  trouble 
at  all  to  keep  our  town  and  county  and  state  going.  The  town  of  Emporia  is 
being  paved  from  one  end  to  the  other  with  brick  and  asphalt  without  a  dollar's 
worth  of  liquor  money  in  it.  The  revenues  of  Kansas  for  nearly  thirty 
years  have  been  raised  without  liquor  licenses  and  we  have  built  the  best  sys- 
tem of  schools  in  the  world.  Taxes  are  low  because  the  average  working  man 
owns  his  own  home  and  thus  the  taxes  are  spread  out  upon  thousands  of  work- 
ing people  who  are  thrifty,  honest  and  hard  working  rather  than  upon  hundreds 
of  landlords  who  are  taxed  to  maintain  the  criminal  costs  in  the  courts.  The 
average  district  court  criminal  docket  of  Lyon  county  is  five  or  six  cases.  And  it 
costs  no  more  to  enforce  the  prohibitory  law  than  it  does  any  other  law  on  the 
statute  books.  The  taxes  last  year  were  as  follows : 

County  tax  3.5    mills 

City  tax  6.48  mills 

School  tax   5.      mills 

14.98  mills 

There  were  100  cases  in  city  police  court  from  January  I  to  September  i.  Of 
these  seventeen  were  for  drunkenness  and  two  for  bootlegging.  The  rest  were 
for  crap  shooting,  violating  gas  fitters'  ordinance,  nineteen  were  for  throwing 
manure  in  alleys  and  other  minor  charges.  I  trust  that  I  have  answered  your 
questions  and  if  there  is  anything  further,  that  I  can  say,  kindly  let  me  know. 

Truly  and  sincerely  yours, 

W.  A.  WHITE. 


Chancellor  Strong,  of  the  State  University,  telegraphed  as  follows: 

Lawrence,  Kan.,  March  25,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  State  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan., 

My  experience  as  head  of  the  University  of  Kansas  and  extensive  travels 
over  the  state  make  me  confident  that  beyond  any  question  whatever  the  pro- 
hibitory law  is  well  enforced  in  the  state  of  Kansas. 

That  it  greatly  simplifies  the  disciplinary  difficulties  in  education,  distinctly 
raises  the  educational  standard  of  the  communities  and  of  the  higher  schools, 
and  increases  the  number  who  find  it  possible  to  achieve  higher  education.  That 

II 


it  increases  to  a  remarkable  degree  the  efficiency  of  the  state  as  a  whole  in  wealth 
production.  That  it  is  a  tremendous  factor  in  the  reduction  of  crime,  drunken- 
ness and  poverty  and  that  the  general  effect  upon  the  well-being  of  the  state  in 
every  respect  is  incalculable.  FRANK  STRONG,  Chancellor. 


Hon.  F.  D.  Coburn,  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  says : 

"Prohibition  was  never  before  so  popular  in  Kansas  as  now,  after  a  thirty 
years'  trial.  Its  effects  upon  all  phases  of  society's  welfare  have  been  helpfully 
wholesome,  and  the  aforetime  noisy  threats  of  resubmission  are  no  longer 
heard,  even  in  whispers. 

"Prohibition  is  in  the  very  air;  its  invincible  hosts,  on  the  way,  are  being 
augmented  by  reinforcements  at  every  cross  roads.  Ably  led,  the  forces  of  re- 
bellion made  a  long  and  stubborn  resistance  to  our  National  authority,  but  their 
banners  trailed  in  defeat  at  Appomattox  before  the  blue-coated  legions  of  Grant. 
The  forces  behind  the  saloons  are  in  rebellion  against  society  and  morality,  and 
are  facing  their  Appomattox,  for  which  Chicago  may  be  but  another  name." 

But  putting  aside  all  argument  concerning  the  financial,  material  and  econ- 
omic side  of  this  question,  there  yet  remains  the  moral  and  religious  side  of  the 
problem  which  I  conceded  at  the  outset  of  my  remarks  to  be  the  strongest 
and  most  weighty  argument  in  favor  of  prohibition.  If  George  Washington  was 
right  in  assuming  that  the  foundation  of  our  Republic  is  based  on  the  morality 
and  religious  principles  of  our  citizenship,  then  the  suppression  of  the  liquor 
traffic  becomes  at  once  the  gravest  and  most  serious  problem  of  our  nation.  The 
following  quotation  from  the  Father  of  his  country  ought  to  be  read  and  re-read 
by  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  America: 

"Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity,  re- 
ligion and  moralitty  are  indispensible  supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim 
the  tribute  of  patriotism  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of 
human  happiness,  these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  Let  it 
simply  be  asked  where  is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the 
sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths  which  are  the  instruments  of  in- 
vestigation in  courts  of  justice;  and  let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition 
that  morality  can  be  maintained  without  religion.  Reason  and  experience  both 
forbid  us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious 
principles." 

No  American  statesman  of  good  character  and  national  reputation  will  dare 
predict  that  this  nation  or  any  free  government  can  long  endure  after  the  spirit 
of  morality  and  religion  ceases  to  be  the  controlling  influence  in  our  national  life, 
and  no  man  of  reputation  and  character  can  successfully  dispute  the  fact  that  the 
saloon  and  its  accessories — the  gambling  house,  the  house  of  ill-fame  and  the 
professional  criminal  are  the  most  destructive  enemies  of  morality  and  religion. 

"Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people,"  was  a 
favorite  quotation  of  the  greatest  president  that  has  served  a  term  in  the  White 
House  since  the  days  of  Lincoln  and  no  respectable  citizen  will  deny  the  sin, 
shame  and  disgrace  of  the  liquor  traffic;  neither  will  any  man  dare  to  deny  that 
it  is  the  most  demoralizing,  degrading,  debauching  influence  in  our  social  life. 

President  Lincoln  is  quoted  as  saying  on  April  14,  1865,  the  morning  before 
his  assassination: 

"After  reconstruction  the  next  greatest  question  will  be  the  overthrow  of 
the  liguor  traffic."  , 

And  at  Springfield  in  1853 : 

"The  most  effectual  remedy  would  be  the  passage  of  a  law  altogether  abolish- 
ing the  liquor  traffic.  There  must  be  no  more  attempts  to  regulate  the  cancer,  it 
must  be  eradicated." 

In  summing  up  this  question  each  one  for  himself  must  determine  whether 
he  is  in  favor  of  protecting  the  home  life,  the  children,  the  moral  and  religious 
sentiment  of  the  community  and  support  the  policies  advocated  by  Washington, 
Lincoln  and  Roosevelt  which  form  the  only  safe  and  sure  foundation  of  our 
republic,  or,  whether  he  will  ally  himself  with  the  men  engaged  in  a  business 
that,  like  a  great  cencer,  is  eating  into  the  vitals  of  our  nation  corrupting  city 
councils^  bribing  legislatures  and  congress,  benumbing  the  moral  sense  of  men, 
debauching  the  purity  of  women,  robbing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  children  of 
their  God-given  right  to  be  reared  under  conditions  that  are  calculated  to  pro- 
duce good  men  and  women,  of  healthy,  wholesome,  moral  character  and  physi- 
cal strength;  and  causing  many  times  over  as  much  sin  and  shame  and  crime 
as  all  other  evils  in  pur  land.  The  war  is  here;  the  battle  is  on;  you  cannot 
escape  taking  sides;  it  is  impossible  to  support  the  church,  the  Sabbath  school, 

12 


the  home  and  the  best  moral  and  religious  sentiment  of  your  community  and  at 
the  same  time  vote  for  saloons,  gambling  dens  and  houses  of  prostitution. 

This  struggle  is  not  confined  to  Chicago,  it  is  world-wide.  Will  you  stand 
for  your  country  and  the  institutions  that  make  it  the  greatest  government  the 
world  has  ever  known,  or  will  you  stand  with  the  brewer,  the  distiller  and  the 
saloonkeeper  and  their  vile  and  disreputable  alHes,  the  gambling  house  and  the 
infamous  dens  of  shame,  which  are  the  haunts  of  the  assassin,  the  burglar  and 
the  professional  criminal  generally.  Does  the  patriotism  of  Washington,  Lincoln 
and  Roosevelt  appeal  to  you,  or  will  you  accept  the  cunningly  devised,  misleading, 
statements  of  the  saloon  forces  which  are  intended  to  appeal  to  your  prejudices, 
your  selfishness  and  the  worst  passions  in  the  human  heart? 

TESTIMONY  OF  KANSAS  POLICE  JUDGES. 

On  March  19,  1910,  Governor  Stubbs  Wrote  as  Follows  to  Police  Judges  in 

Various  Parts  of  the  State 


STATE  OF  KANSAS. 

W.  R.  STUBBS,  Governor. 

Topeka,  March  10,  1910. 
Police  Judge,  Independence,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Will  you  kindly  inform  me  by  return  mail  if  convictions  are 
more  difficult  in  your  court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  vio- 
lations of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state? 

Thanking  you  in  advance  for  this  information,  I  am, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

W.  R.  STUBBS. 


KANSAS  CITY. 

The  governor's  letter  brought  the  following  responses : 

Kansas  City,  Kansas,  March  20,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  Your  favor  of  the  I9tfo  inst.  as  to  convictions  in  the  po- 
lice court,  requesting  an  answer  by  return  mail,  came  by  special  delivery  to  my 
residence  at  nine  o'clock  a.  m.  today.  I  am  now  at  my  office  writing  this  letter 
at  9 130  o'clock  a.  m.  No,  convictions  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  liquor 
laws  of  Kansas  are  not  more  difficult  in  the  police  court  than  convictions  for 
the  violation  of  any  other  criminal  ordinance.  The  nature  of  the  offense  makes 
no  difference.  All  that  I  as  judge  of  that  court  require  is  that  the  offense  be 
proven  as  required  by  criminal  procedure. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

JOHN  F.  SIMS,  Police  Judge. 

HOLTON. 

Holton,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor. 

Dear  Sir :  Your  favor  of  the  ipth  inst.  directed  to  "Police Judge"  is  referred 
to  me  to  answer.  Convictions  are  on  more  difficult  in  our  court  for  violation 
of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  the  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of 

the  state.  

I  think  you  might  wish  to  know  something  of  the  workings  of  this  law. 
The  police  record  of  our  city  shows  the.  following : 

1907 — Arrests  for  drunkenness,  46;  arrests  for  selling,  3;  two  convicted. 
1908 — Arrests  for  drunkenness,  17;  arrests  for  selling,  3;  convicted  3. 
1909 — Arrests  for  drunkenness,  8;  arrests  for  selling  none. 

Very  respectfully, 

GEO.  H.  BARKER,  Justice  of  Peace. 
Acting  Police  Judge  of  the  City  of  Holton,  Kan. 


FORT  SCOTT. 

Fort  Scott,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  Your  letter  of  the  igth  inst.  receive^.  In  reply  will  say  we  have 
no  more  trouble  in  whiskey  cases  than  in  other  violations  of  any  of  the  crim- 
inal laws  of  the  state  of  Kansas. 

We  have  a  population  of  nearly  20,000  people.  We  used  to  have  eighteen 
saloons  in  our  city,  not  one  now  in  the  city  or  county. 

The  beneficent  influence  of  having  done  away  with  saloons  is  so  apparent 

13 


and  satisfactory  if  the  question  were  submitted  to  a  vote  of  our  people  there 
could  not  be  found  200  people  voting  for  the  return  of  the  saloons. 

Yours  truly, 
J.  D.  HILL,  Police  Judge. 

CONCORDIA. 

Concordia,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor. 

Dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  your  inquiry,  I  will  say  that  convictions  in  this 
police  court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law,  have  not  been  any  more  diffi- 
cult than  for  offenses  against  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state.  Of  course, 
you  understand  we  do  not  try  state  cases  in  our  police  court,  but  we  have  had 
a  good  many  liquor  cases  for  violating  the  city  ordinance  and  in  conducting 
the  defense  it  has  always  been  with  the  intention  of  appealing  to  the  district 
court  in  case  of  conviction,  defendant  never  introducing  any  testimony. 

Our  experience  is  that  by  trying  liquor  cases  in  the  police  court  it  has  proven 
to  be  a  quick  way  to  get  them  into  the  district  court. 

Yours  truly,. 
J.  D.  SEXSMITH,  Police  Judge. 


ATCHISON. 

Alchison,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor :  In  reply  to  your  letter  relative  to  convictions  of  violators 
of  the  prohibitory  law  in  the  police  court  of  this  city,  will  say  that  in  most  cases 
the  chief  of  police,  after  collecting  evidence  against  alleged  violators,  turns  the 
same  over  to  the  county  attorney.  Several  bootleggers  have  been  convicted  in 
the  police  court,  but  in  the  majority  of  liquor  prosecutions  I  believe  that  the 
best  and  most  effective  results  can  be  secured  through  the  district  court.  The 
cases  tried  before  my  court  resulted  in  convictions  without  the  least  trouble,  be- 
cause the  police  had  conclusive  evidence  before  warrants  were  issued.  In  reply 
to  your  question  as  to  whether  it  has  been  more  difficult  to  convict  violators  of 
the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws,  will  say 
that  convictions  of  bootleggers  are  as  easily  secured  as  in  any  other  crime.  Atch- 
ison,  at  this  time,  is  the  dryest  ever.  I  think  that  Mayor  Allaman's  reply  to 
your  message  one  day  this  week  covered  the  ground  in  good  shape.  No  one 
felt  disposed  to  take  exceptions  to  the  mayor's  reply,  at  least,  and  some  of  his 
answers  to  your  queries  were  appalling  to  many  who  had  never  studied  the  sit- 
uation from  the  viewpoint  of  "Before  and  after  taking." 

Now,  dear  governor,  please  don't  ask  us  any  more  questions  about  the  en- 
forcement of  the  prohibitory  law,  because  we're  all  good  and  happy.  I  hope 
that  my  letter  furnishes  the  information  you  desire. 

I  beg  to  remain, 

FOREST  WARREN,  Police  Judge. 


SALINA. 

Salina,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:     Referring  to  your  letter. of  the  I9th  inst.,  will  say: 

That  so  far  as  my  court  is  concerne'd,  convictions  under  the  prohibitory  law 
are  no  more  difficult  than  under  other  criminal  laws. 

At  one  time  it  was  more  difficult  to  get  evidence  is  such  cases,  but  in  a  case 
before  the  court,  last  fall,  a  witness  clearly  committed  perjury,  which  was  made 
apparent  by  the  testimony  of  other  witnesses  in  the  case,  I,  myself  drew  a  com- 
plaint against  him  for  perjury,  the  city  marshal  swore  to  it,  our  very  efficient 
county  attorney  prosecuted  the  case  and  in  about  two  months  the  defendant  was 
landed  in  the  penitentiary,  since  which  time  witnesses  in  that  class  of  cases,  so 
far  as  I  know,  tell  the  truth. 

The  greatest  drawback  in  the  strict  enforcement  is  the  delay  following  the 
appeals  to  the  district  court,  a  number  of  which  were  allowed  to  pass  over  the 
last  term  and  have  not  been  tried  during  the  present  term  of  court,  which  has 
been  adjourned  to  May  23  next,  and  until  a  new  judge  goes  into  office. 

With  the  future  enforcement  of  the  law  in  this  country,  a  great  responsibil- 
ity will  rest  upon  you,fgive  us  a  district  judge  who  believes  in  official  integrity, 
whether  he  be  a  prohibitionist  or  anti-prohibitionist,  Republican  or  Democrat, 
who  will  not  be  controlled  by  the  attorneys  who  defend  in  that  class  of  cases, 

U 


but  will  support  the  legitimate  action  of  the  city  government,  and  the  boot- 
leggers will  be  driven  to  the  brush. 

Public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  enforcement  of  that  law  is  stronger  in  this 
county  today  than  at  any  time  since  the  law  was  passed  and  the  law  is  more 
strictly  enforced  than  it  ever  has  been  before.  I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

D.  R.  WAGSTAFF,  Police  Judge. 


NEWTON. 

Newton,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  The  ordinances  of  this  city  do  not  give  me  any  jurisdiction  in 
cases  of  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law.  All  such  cases  coming  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  city  police  are  immediately  referred  to  the  county  attorney,  W.  H. 
Vender  Heiden.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

H.  C.  GLENDENING,  Police  Judge. 


JUNCTION   CITY. 

Junction  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  favor  of  March  19  at  hand  and  noted.  In  reply  will  say 
that  convictions  for  the  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  are  no  more  difficult 
than  for  the  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state  in  this  court.  I 
am,  sir,  Yours  very  respectfully, 

J.  I.  KERR,  Police  Judge. 


WICHITA. 

Wichita,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Dear  Sir:  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  March  19,  as  to  convictions  in  my 
court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  as  compared  to  convictions  for  viola- 
tions of  other  criminal  ordiances,  I  will  say  that  in  a  general  way  convictions 
for  that  class  of  offenses  are  no  more  difficult  than  convictions  are  in  other 
cases.  Since  I  have  been  police  judge,  that  is,  since  April  13,  1909,  I  have  been 
convicting  parties  charged  with  selling  intoxicating  liquors  upon  the  absolute 
testimony  of  the  party  who  purchased  the  liquor,  and  upon  production  of  the 
liquor  purchased.  In  practically  all  the  cases  for  maintaining  a  nuisance  we 
have  had  a  supply  of  liquor  seized  on  the  premises.  From  April  13,  1909,  to 
December  31,  1909,  no  persons  were  convicted  in  my  court  either  of  selling  in- 
toxicating liquors  or  maintaining  a  nuisance.  Out  of  these  twenty-two  were 
prosecuted  and  convicted  upon  the  evidence  furnished  by  the  State  Temperance 
Union  and  its  agents.  Prior  to  December,  when  these  prosecutions  were  insti- 
tuted under  the  auspices  of  the  Temperance  Union  people  my  sentences  were 
invariably  $500  and  six  months  in  jail.  Many  of  the  defendants  were  compelled 
to,  and  did  serve  long  jail  sentences,  whije  quite  a  number  were  paroled  upon  the 
payment  of  $200  in  money  and  the  signing  of  a  parole  blank  by  which  they 
agreed  to  stay  out  of  the  liquor  business  for  one  year,  and  for  the  violation  of 
which  condition  they  were  to  be  recommitted  to  jail.  I  found  it  necessary  to 
recommit  some  seven  or  eight  parties.  In  all  since  April  13,  1909,  I  think  there 
have  been  less  than  ten  acquittals;  and  these  for  the  reason  that  the  evidence 
furnished  was  insufficient.  In  most  of  these  prosecutions  the  police  officers  and 
the  State  Temperance  Union  people  were  very  careful  to  get  absolute  proof  be- 
fore an  arrest  was  made,  and  I  think  that  the  large  number  of  convictions  was 
due  to  that  fact.  We  collected  something  over  $5,000  from  fines  and  forfeitures 
from  violators  of  the  liquor  ordinances  up  to  December  31. 

Twenty-one  of  the  cases  brought  by  the  State  Temperance  Union  people 
were  appealed  to  the  district  court  of  Sedgwick  county,  where  the  ordinance 
was  declared  invalid  and  the  defendants  discharged.  However,  they  were  im- 
mediately rearrested  upon  state  warrants.  The  city  commissioners  passed  a 
new  liquor  ordinance  in  January  of  this  year,  but  we  have  had  no  prosecutions 
under  it. 

If  there  is  anything  upon  which  you  desire  information  that  I  have  not 
covered  in  this  letter,  I  shall  be  glad  to  furnish  it  to  you. 

Very  truly  yours, 

JESSE  D.  WALL,  Police  Judge. 

IS 


DODGE  CITY. 

Dodge  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Have  your  communication  of  recent  date  addressed  to  the 
police  judge  of  Dodge  City. 

If  affords  me  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  during  my  term  in  this  office  of 
five  years,  have  in  no  case  found  that  there  was  any  greater  difficulty  in  con- 
victions under  the  prohibitory  law  than  under  other  criminal  laws. 

Have  found  in  one  or  two  cases  that  persons  holding  government  license 
have  been  led  to  believe  that  they  were  immune  from  prosecution  under  state 
laws  because  they  held  the  same ;  this  impression  was  no  doubt  caused  by  inter- 
nal revenue  officers  visiting  them  during  their  incarceration  and  prevailing  upon 
them  to  take  out  the  license  or  become  entangled  with  the  federal  government; 
persons  tinder  the  circumstances  were  only  too  glad  to  secure  the  license,  think- 
ing that  if  they  had  the  federal  government's  permission  to  sell,  the  state  gov- 
ernment could  not  prohibit  them  from  making  the  sales. 

Yours  truly, 
RICHARD  W.  EVANS,  Jr.,  Police  Judge  Dodge  City,  Kan. 

MANHATTAN. 

Manhattan,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Ron.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

*  Dear  Sir :  in  reply  to  yours  of  March  19,  1910,  will  say  that  so  far  I  have 
had  no  trouble  to  convict  cases  for  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law.  Manhattan 
is  comparatively  free  from  such  violators  of  this  law. 

Yours  respectfully, 

THOS.  HUNTER,  Police  Judge. 


COLUMBUS. 

Columbus,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Dear  Sir:  Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  I9th  inst.,  inquiring  "If  convic- 
tions are  more  difficult  in  your  court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than 
for  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state?"  will  say  NO. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

B.  B.  ALFRED,  Police  Judge. 


HUTCHINSON. 

Hutchinson,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  yours  of  the  I9th  day  of  March,  1910:  In  my  court 
I  do  not  have  general,  but  limited,  jurisdiction,  as  provided  by  ordinance.  Under 
the  prohibitory  law  it  is  more  difficult  to  get  witnesses  to  testify  against  a 
bootlegger  than  in  any  other  case.  Cause :  Witnesses  who  buy  are  fearful  that 
it  they  testify  their  supply  will  be  cut  off;  hence,  they,  as  a  rule,  are  know- 
nothings.  Bootleggers  are  all  that  we  have,  and  but  few  of  them. 

Yours  truly, 
R.  A.  CAMPBELL,  Police  Judge. 

LEAVENWORTH. 

Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  State  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  In  your  letter  of  March  I9th,  just  received,  you  ask  the  fol- 
lowing question: 

"Will  you  kindly  inform  me,  by  return  mail,  if  convictions  are  more  difficult 
in  your  court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations  of  the 
general  criminal  laws  of  the  state?" 

To  this  question  I  would  answer  "Yes,"  and  the  reason  is  this:  It  is  very 
rare  that  any  one  outside  of  the  police  will  consent  to  give  evidence,  in  court, 
against  a  person  charged  with  maintaining  a  nuisance  under  Ordinance  2800  of 
this  city,  being  commonly  called  the  prohibitory  liquor  ordinance. 

To  illustrate,  sometime  ago  a  man  by  the  name  of  John  Foley  was  arrested 
for  maintaining  a  nuisance  at  No.  700  Cherokee  street.  Before  the  case  was 
tried  the  matter  was  investigated  and  the  names  of  a  number  of  outside  wit- 
nesses were  given  the  city  attorney.  These  persons  were  subpoenaed.  It  was 
a  well-known  fact  that  these  witnesses  were  men  whom  the  police  termed  as 
"hangers-on"  at  Foley's  place.  Deeming  it  advisable  our  city  attorney  asked, 
before  the  trial  began,  that  these  witnesses  be  excluded  from  the  court  room 

16 


during  the  taking  of  testimony.  I  made  an  order  to  that  effect.  The  witnesses 
were  sent  from  the  court  room  and  to  a  place  where  they  could  not  hear  what 
the  witness  on  the  stand  was  testifying  to.  In  spite  of  the  very  rigid  examina- 
tion by  the  city  attorney  none  of  them  would  testify  that  they  had  bought  liquor 
from  Foley  or  any  one  in  his  employ.  One  of  the  witnesses,  after  being  thor- 
oughly sweated  by  the  attorney,  admitted  that  he  had  bought  some  two  per  cent 
from  Foley.  In  addition  to  this  a  revenue  stamp  was  offered,  showing  that  a 
man  by  the  name  of  "Munroe  Bishop"  had  taken  out  a  stamp  for  that  place. 
Munroe  Bishop  was  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  at  the  time  of  trial 
and  could  not  be  subpoenaed,  but  the  evidence  developed  the  fact  that  he  was 
boarding  with  a  man  named  Ehart  at  the  time  Ehart  was  running  the  hotel. 
Ehart  sold  out  to  Foley,  and  the  record  in  the  revenue  office  failed  to  disclose 
any  stamp  in  the  name  of  Foley — thus,  it  was  evident  that  Foley  was  doing 
business  under  the  stamp  (if  he  was  doing  business  at  all.)  When  the  officers 
searched  the  place  Foley  had  a  bottle  of  whiskey  on  his  person,  if  my  memory 
serves  me  correctly. 

Thus  no  license  was  introduced  showing  that  Foley  had  obtained  it.  The 
two  per  cent  was  not  shown  to  have  been  intoxicating  liquor.  No  one  testified 
to  having  bought  beer  or  whiskey.  Yet  I  convicted  the  defendant  and  fined 
him  $200  and  sentenced  him  to  serve  sixty  days  in  the  county  jail.  He  appealed 
his  case  to  the  district  court,  where  he  will  get  a  trial  by  jury.  The  question 
naturally  arises  will  a  jury  convict  him  on  such  testimony?  If  not,  the  costs 
of  the  trial  will  be  assessed  against  the  city. 

The  police  seem  to  do  everything  possible  to  get  the  evidence  of  disinter- 
ested witnesses  who  will  testify  to  having  bought  liquor,  but  their  efforts  are 
seldom,  if  ever,  rewarded. 

In  other  criminal  cases — such  as  assault  and  battery,  disturbing  the  peace 
and  the  like — usually  the  one  assaulted,  files  and  swears  to  the  complaint  and 
furnishes  his  witnesses.  The  same  pertains  to  disturbing  the  peace.  If  th' 
interested  parties  don't  proceed  the  police  make  the  arrest,  being  eye-witnesse^ 
themselves,  and  thus  there  is  no  difficulty  in  such  cases  as  bit  reared  to. 
The  men  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  are  discreet — they  wil?  have  a  "watch-out" 
for  the  police  and  resort  to  other  means  to  conce?'  <iu"r  transgressions  of  thf 
law  and  make  conviction  difficult. 

We  are  doing  our  utmost  to  suppress  the  vr  ,lation  of  this  prohibitory  law 
and  I  will  aid  the  police  department  in  everj  way,  consistent  with  my  duty  as 
police  judge.  I  never  hesitate  to  convict  where  the  evidence  shows  a  violation 
of  this  or  any  other  ordinance. 

Yours  very  truly, 

L.  HOFFMAN,  Police  Judge. 


OTTAWA. 

Ottawa,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Dear  Sir:  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  ipth  inst.,  which  is  herewith  en- 
closed, I  will  say  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  get  witnesses  to  testify  a^  ;nst 
violators  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  it  is  in  the  case  of  other  misdemeanors. 

I  am  glad  to  say,  however,  that  drunkenness  and  crimes  growing  out  of 
the  use  of  intoxicants  are  less  frequent.  A  large  majority  of  our  people  are  in 
favor  of  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  law. 

Ottawa  was  prohibition  before  the  state  was.  Our  jail  is  empty  as  part  of 
the  result. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  P.  KERR. 


CHANUTE. 

Chanute,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

My  Dear  Governor  Stubbs:  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  I9th  inst,  will 
say  that  convictions  in  my  court  are  more  difficult  for  violations  of  the  prohib- 
itory law  than  for  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state. 

Very  truly  yours, 
W.  M.  WILFONG,  Police  Judge. 

17 


LAWRENCE. 

Lawrence,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs. 

Dear  Governor :  In  reply  to  your  question,  if  convictions  are  more  difficult 
to  obtain  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations  of  the  general 
criminal  laws  of  the  state,  will  say  that  as  judge  of  police  court  I  apply  the 
rules  of  law  and  evidence  as  provided  by  our  state's  law  and  city  ordinance.  I 
give  the  defendant  the  benefit  of  any  doubt  in  liquor  cases  the  same  as  any 
other  prosecution.  In  my  seven  years'  experience  as  police  judge  I  have  found 
that  as  a  rule  the  patrons  of  joints  and  bootleggers  are  those  to  whom  liquor  is 
king.  The  penalty  for  handling  liquor  for  sale  is  so  severe  and  public  opinion 
here  is  so  strong  against  the  person  caught  with  the  goods,  that  men  with  self- 
respect  don't  as  a  rule  engage  in  the  business.  The  class  of  citizens  handling 
the  goods,  therefore,  being  the  lowest  class  morally;  their  customers,  as  a  rule, 
are  of  the  same  general  character.  That  being  the  case  it  is  hard  for  a  prose- 
cuting officer  to  get  evidence.  I  should  therefore  say  that  convictions  are  not 
more  difficult  to  obtain  for  violators  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  any  other  law, 
for  courts  as  a  rule  respect  their  oaths  of  office.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  men 
with  respect  for  themselves  and  the  law,  who  patronize  joints  and  bootleggers 
are  hard  to  find,  it  is  difficult  for  prosecuting  officers  to  get  evidence. 

Respectfully  yours, 
L.  H.  MENGER. 

GARDEN  CITY. 

Garden  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.   Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :     Owing  to  the  difficulty  in  getting  men  to  tell  the  truth  it  is  some- 
times hard  to  get  a  verdict  on  the  evidence.     Men  who  want  their  drams  want 
them  worse  than  they  want  to  be  known  as  honest  men.     Notwithstanding  this, 
however,  we  get  one  occasionally  who  tells  the  truth  and  conviction  follows. 
Yours  respectfully, 
ABNER  HADLEY,  Police  Judge,  Garden  City,  Kan. 

HIAWATHA. 

Hiawatha,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  We  have  not  had  a  case  for  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  in 
our  police  court,  or  a  justice  court  in  this  city  for  eighteen  months.  I  do  not 
think  it  any  harder  to  convict  for  bootlegging  or  whiskey  selling  in  this  town 
than  for  any  other  crime.  We  look  after  our  own  liquor  cases,  the  county  at- 
torney living  in  Horton  and  coming  here  only  when  court  is  in  session. 

Respectfully, 
L.  J.  MOSHER,  Police  Judge. 

INDEPENDENCE. 

Independence,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 

Dear  Governor:  In  twenty-three  cases  in  this  court  for  violations  of  the 
prohibitory  law,  we  have  had  twenty  convictions. 

Respectfully, 

T.  J.  McKIBBEN,  Police  Judge. 

PITTSBURG. 

Pittsburg,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Convictions  in  this  court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law 
will  run  about  the  same  proportion  as  convictions  for  other  offenses. 

Respectfully, 

ROBERT  MATSON,  Police  Judge. 

EMPORIA. 

Emporia,  Kan.,  March  21,   1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  In  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  complaints  for  unlawfully  sell- 
ing liquor  since  I  have  been  police  judge,  three  years,  convictions  were  had  in 
all.  It  is  not  more  difficult  in  our  court  to  secure  convictions  for  violations  of 
prohibitory  law  than  of  other  laws.  Yours  truly, 

W.  W.  PARKER,  Police  Judge. 

18 


BELOIT. 

Beloit,  Kansas,  March  22,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  On  my  return  home  I  find  a  letter  from  you  awaiting  me.  The 
contents  are  noted.  I  have  to  say  that  convictions  are  no  more  difficult  in 'my 
court  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations  of  the  general 
criminal  laws  of  the  state. 

By  the  way,  our  county  attorney  makes  it  very  unpleasant  for  boozers  that 
drop  down  in  our  city  occasionally. 

Yours  with  great  respect, 

E.  R.  BONNIFIELD,  Police  Judge. 


TESTIMONY  OF  KANSAS  DISTRICT  JUDGES. 
The  Letter  addressed  to  Police  Court  Judges  Was  Duplicated  to  the  Dis- 
trict Court  Judges  of  the  State  and  Practically  All 
of  Them  Responded  as  Follows. 


JUDGE  SWARTS. 

Winfield,  Kan.,  March  21,   1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

.Dear  Sir:  In  response  to  your  inquiry  of  the  I9th  permit  me  to  say:  In 
my  judgment  it  is  not  now  nor  has  been  for  many  years  last  past  any  more 
difficult  in  this,  the  I9th  Judicial  District,  to  secure  convictions  for  violations 
of  the  liquor  laws  of  this  state  than  for  violations  of  other  criminal  laws. 
Juries  are  and  have  been  for  many  years  perfectly  willing,  where  the  evidence 
warrants,  to  convict  upon  charges  of  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law,  and  the 
fact  that  the  charge  is  of  such  a  character  makes  and  has  made  ho  difference 
whatever.  I  am,  Very  respectfully, 

C.  L.  SWARTS. 


JUDGE  CANNON. 

Mound  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  In  answer  to  your  question,  "if  convictions  are  more 
difficult  in  this  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations 
of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state,"  will  say  that  they  are  not.  The 
people  of  this  district  are  for  the  enforcement  of  all  laws.  The  city  of  Fort 
Scott,  with  a  population  of  16,000,  which  is  in  my  district,  has  the  "lid"  on  good 
and  tight.  Yours  truly, 

JOHN  C  CANNON,  Judge  Sixth  Judicial  District. 


JUDGE  JACKSON. 

Atchison,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kan.,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Answering  your  inquiry  of  the  I9th  inst,  beg  leave  to  say  that 
we  have  had  in  this  district  during  the  last  eight  years  only  two  criminal  prose- 
cutions for  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law ;  one  trial  before  Judge  Hudson,  my 
predecessor,  and  a  jury  resulted  in  an  acquittal,  and  one  trial  before  a  jury 
during  my  term  resulted  in  failure  of  the  jury  to  agree  and  the  case  is  still 
pending.  Probably  the  reason  for  so  few  criminal  prosecutions  is  that  the  state 
and  county  attorneys  have  preferred  to  rely  principally 'upon  injunction  process 
and  contempt  proceedings  thereunder,  of  which  cases  there  have  been  a  great 
many  during  the  past  two  or  three  years.  Hoping  the  above  information  will 
answer  your  purpose  and  that  if  it  fails  therein  you  will  not  hesitate  to  call 
upon  me  for  any  additional  you  may  desire,  I  am,  Very  truly  yours, 

W.  A.  JACKSON,  District  Judge. 


JUDGE  MECKEL. 

Emporia,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  addressed  to  me  at  Cottonwood  Falls  was  received 
by  me  this  morning  here;  in  answer  to  your  inquiry  would  say  that  is  my 
experience  that  it  is  no  more  difficult  to  secure  convictions  for  violations  of 
the  prohibitory  liquor  law  than  of  any  other  law.  Yours  truly, 

F   A.  MECKEL. 


JUDGE  FOUST. 

lola,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kan.,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  Your  favor  of  the  igth  inst.,  received  in  due  course 
of  mail,  and  noted,  replying  to  question  propounded  by  you,  to-wit : 

"Will  you  kindly  inform  me  by  return  mail  if  convictions  are  more  difficult 
in  your  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations  of  the 
general  criminal  laws  of  the  state?" 

Beg  to  say,  they  are  not.  I  observe  no  difficulty  whatever  in  juries  convict- 
ing persons  charged  with  such  offenses  when  there  is  reasonable  testimony  ad- 
duced on  trial  of  causes,  not  the  least  disposition  to  shirk  such  duty  is  mani- 
fested. I.  beg  to  remain,  as  ever,  Yours  very  truly, 

OSCAR  FOUST. 


JUDGE  DILL. 

Leavenworth,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  yours  of  the  igth  inst.,  just  received,  asking  "if 
convictions  are  more  difficult  in  your  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory 
law  than  for  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state,"  I  beg  to  say 
that  the  most  of  the  prohibitory  cases  in  my  court  have  been  of  the  injunction 
kind,  where  no  jury  is  required.  A  few  jury  cases  in  appeals  from  the  city 
police  court  -involving  the  prohibitory  ordinance  of  the  city  have  been  tried  in 
the  district  court  and  in  them  the  ratio  of  convictions  has  been  about  the  same 
as  in  other  criminal  cases. 

As  yet  no  state  case  involving  the  interposition  of  a  jury,  charging  the  un- 
lawful sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  has  been  presented  to  the  court  for  trial  by 
a  jury  by  either  the  prosecuting  attorney  or  the  attorney  general.  Hence  I  am 
without  the  necessary  data  or  experience  to  answer  satisfactorily  your  inquiry. 
From  the  results  in  the  few  city  cases  tried  it  might  be  fairly  inferred  that 
convictions  by  juries  in  state  cases,  where  the  proofs  are  sufficient  to  justify  a 
verdict  of  guilty,  can  be  had  without  difficulty. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

W.  DILL,  Judge  First  Judicial  District. 


JUDGE  REES. 

Minneapolis,  Kan.,  March  23,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs, 'Topeka,  Kansas. 

My  Dear  Governor:  Your  letter  of  the  igth  arrived  during  my  absence 
and  I  hasten  to  answer  at  once.  Convictions  are  no  more  difficult  for  the  viola- 
tions of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  the  violations  of  other  criminal  laws  of 
the  state.  This,  however,  was  not  the  case  as  late  as  four  years  ago  in  Saline 
and  Ellsworth  counties  of  my  district.  In  these  counties  it  seemed  possible  for 
a  long  time  to  secure  enough  jurors  in  many  of  the  panels  to  hang  the  jury. 
Within  the  last  two  years  the  law  enforcement  sentiment  has  thoroughly  per- 
meated the  whole  body  of  the  people  and  where  the  evidence  is  reasonably  clear 
there  is  no  difficulty  about  securing  convictions.  The  same  sentiment  has  pro- 
duced a  profound  change  in  the  character  of  the  evidence,  we  now  seldom  hear 
the  evasive  answers  that  one  time  stultified  our  legal  proceedings.  Regretting 
the  delay  occasioned  by  my  absence,  I  am,  Very  sincerely  yours, 

R.  R.   REES. 


JUDGE  WHITELAW. 

Kansas  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

My  Dear  Sir:  Your  inquiry  as  to  my  opinion  of  the  difficulties  of  convic- 
tion under  the  prohibitory  law  compared  with  such  difficulties  under  the  general 
criminal  law  of  the  state,  was  received  this  morning,  and  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
answering,  as  it  seems  to  me,  my  observations  have  not  been  made  as  a  judicial 
officer,  however,  as  the  court  over  which  I  was  elected  to  preside  in  the  fall  of 
1908,  was  "knocked  out,"  by  the  supreme  tourt. 

For  many  years  in  Kansas,  it  was  a  very  difficult  matter  to  convict  a  per- 
son charged  with  a  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law,  even  under  the  most  direct 
and  positive  proof.  I  think  this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  public  sentiment  was 
opposed  to  the  law  as  interfering  with  personal  liberty.  Now,  in  my  judgment, 
that  is  all  changed,  and  the  people  of  the  state  of  Kansas  are,  by  a  very  large 

20 


majority,  in  favor  of  the  prohibitory  law,  and  its  faithful  enforcement;  this 
condition  and  my  observation  as  a  practitioner,  lead  me  to  believe  that  con- 
victions are  not  more  difficult  for  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law,  than  for  vio- 
lation of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state.  I  don't  believe  the  Kansas  juror 
will  do  violence  to  his  conscience,  to  protect  one  charged  with  any  sort  of  crime, 
if  the  proof  is  sufficient  for  conviction.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

W.  M.  WHITELAW. 


JUDGE  HEIZER. 

Osage  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 

Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Dear  Governor :  I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  iQth  asking  if  convictions 
are  more  difficult  in  this  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  for 
violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state.  I  do  not  think  there  now 
exists  any  more  difficulty  in  securing  a  conviction  in  a  liquor  case  than  that  of 
any  other  under  the  statute.  There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  liquor  law 
when  this  could  not  be  fairly  said,  but  as  far  as  this  district  is  concerned  that 
condition  has  passed  away.  Yours  very  truly, 

ROBERT  C.  HEIZER. 


JUDGE  LOBDELL. 

Lamed,  Kan.,  March  19,  1910. 

Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor :  Replying  to  your  favor  of  this  date  would  say  that  in 
nearly  nine  years  of  judicial  service  I  have  seen  but  one  acquittal  in  a  liquor 
case  when  in  my  judgment  there  should  have  been  a  conviction.  I  am,  how- 
ever, inclined  to  think  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  in  communities  in  this 
matter  and  that  there  are  two  counties  in  my  district  in  which  the  average  juror 
would  require  more  positive  proof  in  a  liquor  case  than  in  other  criminal  cases 
of  equal  magnitude.  Respectfully  yours, 

CHAS.  E.  LOBDELL. 


JUDGE  FLANNELLY. 

Independence,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 

Dear  Governor :  Replying  to  your  query,  would  say  that  it  is  no  more  difficult 
to  secure  a  conviction  for  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  any  other  law 
in  this  district.  Jurors  in  this  district  upon  sufficient  evidence  will  convict  in  a 
liquor  case  just  as  promptly  and  readily  as  in  any  other  criminal  case. 

Respectfully  yours, 

THOS.  J.  FLANNELLY. 


JUDGE  DILLON. 

Belleville,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  Judge  Dillon,  who  is  quite  sick,  instructs  me  to  say  in 
reply  to  your  inquiry  of  the  igth,  that  it  is  no  more  difficult  to  convict  for  the 
violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  than  it  is  for  the  violation  of  any  other  criminal 
law,  in  this  district.  Yours  very  truly, 

W.  T.  PERRY. 


JUDGE  RAINES. 

Oskoloosa,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Dear  Governor:  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  March  19,  inst.,  will  say  that 
convictions  in  this  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  are  no  more 
difficult  than  convictions  for  the  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the 
state.  In  fact  the  sentiment  for  law  enforcement  in  this  district  is  such  that 
no  difficulty  is  experienced  in  procuring  convictions  of  violators  of  the  prohib- 
itory law.  Respectfully, 

OSCAR  RAINES. 


JUDGE  RUPPENTHAL. 

Russell,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:    Your  letter  of  I9th  just  at  hand  asking  whether  con- 


21 


victions  in  this  judicial  district  are  more  difficult  for  violations  of  the  prohibit- 
ory law  than  for  violations  of  the  other  criminal  laws  of  the  state.  As  you 
desire  immediate  reply,  I  cannot  take  time  to  go  over  my  private  docket  of  all 
cases  tried  by  me  to  see  what  the  proportions  are  in  the  various  classes  of 
cases.  But  my  opinion  is  that  a  larger  proportion  of  liquor  prosecutions  have 
resulted  in  convictions  than  of  the  remaining  criminal  cases  of  all  kinds.  One 
class  of  cases  that  has  uniformly  failed  is  the  prosecution  of  city  officials  for 
neglect  to  inform  the  county  attorneys  of  violations  of  the  liquor  laws.  But 
though  such  cases  have  failed  they  awakened  a  wholesome  respect  on  part  of 
possible  delinquents  on  this  line.  Where  county  attorneys  regularly  and  con- 
sistently prosecute  liquor  offenders,  just  like  other  law-breakers,  upon  reasonable 
evidence,  convictions  are  as  likely  to  be  secured  in  the  former  cases  as  in  the 
latter.  I  have  very  rarely. seen  an  acquittal  in  a  liquor  case  where  the  evidence 
was  strong  enough  to  have  assured  conviction  in  any  other  case.  The  greatest 
danger  of  non-conviction  of  the  guilty  is  where  prosecutions  are  so  rare,  and  so 
tardily  begun,  that  a  feeling  of  doubt  exists  whether  the  prohibitory  law  is  to 
be  accounted  as  part  of  the  crimes  act.  There  is  no  permanent  condition  of 
affairs  like  this  in  my  district  if  anywhere  in  Kansas.  Jurors  upon  examination 
on  their  voir  dire  in  liquor  cases  usually  answer  (and  apparently  with  sincerity 
and  truth)  that  they  will  try  such  cases  like  other  criminal  cases  even  where 
such  jurors  admit  a  disbelief  in  the  principle  of  prohibition. 

Very  truly, 

J.  C.  RUPPENTHAL. 


JUDGE  PICKLER. 

•  Dear  Governor :  In  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  your  excellency  of  the  ipth 
inst.,  I  most  unhesitatingly  say  that  the  prohibitory  liquor  law  is  no  more  diffi- 
cult of  enforcement  than  any  other  criminal  statute  of  the  state  so  far  as  this 
district  is  concerned.  Very  respectfully, 

R.  M.  PICKLER,  Judge  Fifteenth  District. 


JUDGE  KIMBLE. 

Manhattan,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 

Dear  Governor :  I  answer  No,  where  the  county  attorneys  act  in  good  faith 
toward  the  law  and  prosecute  with  same  vigor  as  other  offenses. .  In  this  district 
the  law  is  fairly  well  enforced.  Yours  truly, 

SAM  KIMBLE. 


JUDGE  WILSON. 

.Wichita,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  19th  received  yesterday  morning.  Convictions 
are  not  more  difficult  in  this  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  than 
for  violations  of  the  other  criminal  laws  of  the  state.  This  was  not  always  so, 
but  it  is  easily  within  the  truth  at  the  present  time. 

Very  truly  yours, 

THOS.  C.  WILSON. 


JUDGE  CLARK. 

Oswego,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  inquiry  concerning 
convictions  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory  law  in  Labette  county,  and  in  ans- 
wer thereto  would  say:  During  the  first  year  of  my  judgeship  in  this  district 
I  met  with  considerable  difficulty  in  enforcing  this  law,  many  of  my  well  mean- 
ing friends,  politically  and  otherwise,  advised  me  that  I  was  making  a  mistake 
in  enforcing  this  law,  and  that  it  would  not  only  make  it  impossible  for  me  to 
be  elected  the  following  election,  but  would  also  ruin  my  party  in  this  county, 
if  I  persisted  in  its  enforcement.  The  law  was  enforced,  however,  and  after  one 
year  of  strict  enforcement,  I  became  a  candidate  before  the  people  for  election 
and  strange  as  it  may _  seem,  I  had  no  opponent  in  my  own  party  at  the  primaries, 
nor  had  I  any  opposition  ^from  the  other  party  at  the  polls,  and  now  there  is 
no  more  difficulty  in  securing  a  conviction  of  a  person  charged  with  unlawfully 
selling  intoxicating  liquors,  than  upon  any  other  charge,  why  even  men  who 
were  formerly  known  as  drinking  men,  now  go  upon  juries  and  without  the  least 
hesitation  return  verdicts  of  guilty,  where  the  facts  warrant  it,  just  as  in  other 

22 


cases.  We  are  experiencing  no  difficulty  whatever  in  the  enforcement  of  this 
law  in  good  old  Labette  county.  And  of  course  it  necessarily  follows  that  many 
children  who  went  poorly  clad,  only  half  fed,  and  with  no  books  to  attend  school 
are  now  well  fed,  well  clad  and  attending  school  every  day. 

Respectfully, 

ELMER  C.  CLARK. 


JUDGE  SMITH. 

Kansas  City,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  the  State,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  iQth  inst.,  wherein  you  inquire 
whether  convictions  are  more  difficult  in  cases  brought  in  my  court  for  vio- 
lations of  the  prohibitory  law,  I  have  to  say;  that  during  my  term  of  office 
there  have  been  no  prosecutions  for  open  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  for 
the  reason  that  all  places  wherein  liquor  has  been  kept  for  sale  and  sold  in  the 
past  have  been  closed  and  the  sale  of  liquor  abated,  so  that  the  only  prosecutions 
which  now  come  before  the  courts  are  in  the  nature  of  injunctions  to  restrain 
the  owners  of  property  from  permitting  a  nuisance  to  be  maintained  upon  the 
premises  by  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the  manner  commonly  known  as  "bootlegging." 
Trusting  this  will  give  you  the  information  desired,  I  beg  to  remain, 

Very  respectfully, 

H.  J.  SMITH. 

JUDGE  SMITH. 

Stockton,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

My  Dear  Governor:  Yours  of  yesterday  asking  if  "convictions  are  more 
difficult  in  this  district  in  violations  c  '.  the  prohibitory  law  than  for  violations 
of  the  general  criminal  laws"  received  and  noted.  Replying  I  will  say,  No,  we 
have  got  beyond  that  point.  This  was  the  case  in  the  early  history  of  the  en- 
forcement of  the  law,  and  in  some  of  the  counties  for  a  time,  but  now  the 
evidence  that  will  convict  of  any  other  misdemeanor  will  of  a  violation  of  this 
law.  I  think  it  is  as  easy  to  enforce  the  prohibitory  liquor  law  in  this  district 
as  it  is  any  other  law  against  crime.  Very  truly  yours, 

C.  W.  SMITH. 


JUDGE  FINLEY. 

Chanute,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  Your  letter  of  March  I9th,  inquiring  whether  or  not 
convictions  are  more  difficult  in  my  district  for  violations  of  the  prohibitory 
law  than  for  violations  of  the  general  criminal  laws  of  the  state,  was  received 
last  evening.  It  is  my  experience  and  opinion  that  convictions  for  violations  of 
the  prohibitory  law  are  not  more  difficult  to  secure  in  this  judicial  district  than 
convictions  for  the  violation  of  the  criminal  laws  generally.  The  people  of  this 
district  are,  I  think,  in  as  hearty  sympathy  with  strict  observation  of  the  prohib- 
itory law  as  are  the  people  in  any  section  of  the  state.  I  may  further  say  that 
my  experience  and  observation  is  that  detection  is  much  more  difficult  than 
conviction.  I  am,  Very  truly  yours, 

JAMES  W.  FINLEY. 


JUDGE  FULLER. 

Pittsburg,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  I9th  inst.,  I  will  say 
that  at  this  time  it  is  no  more  difficult  to  convict  for  violation  of  the  prohibitory 
law  than  for  the  violation  of  any  of  the  criminal  laws  of  the  state  in  my  dis- 
trict. Formerly  this  was  not  the  case,  but  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  there 
has  been  no  difficulty  in  selecting  juries  that  would  convict  in  cases  involving 
the  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law. 

Yours  truly, 
ARTHUR  FULLER,  District  Judge. 

JUDGE  DANA. 

Topeka,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:     In  reply  to  your  inquiry  if  convictions  for  violations 

23 


of  the  prohibitory  law  in  my  district  are  more  difficult  than  under  the  criminal 
laws  generally,  beg  to  state  that  in  my  opinion  they  are  not,  and  that  generally 
we  have  little  difficulty  in  convicting  when  we  have  the  evidence. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  W.  DANA. 


JUDGE  McNEILL. 

Columbus,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor :  Your  favor  of  the  igth  inst,  came  while  I  was  in  Clinton 
county,  111.,  on  business  and  having  just  now  returned,  I  hasten  to  answer  the 
same.  Owing  to  the  large  foreign  element  in  this  county  and  the  peculiar  con- 
ditions existing  in  our  mining  district,  convictions  under  the  prohibitory  liquor 
law  are  more  difficult  than  in  the  average  community.  It  would  be  idle  to  con- 
tend otherwise  but  the  law  is  exceedingly  well  enforced  in  this  county,  consider- 
ing all  conditions.  The  open  saloon  has  been  driven  out  and  an  occasional  dog- 
gerel springs  up,  but  the  officers  soont  nab  it,  but  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
make  a  conviction  because  these  low  dives  are  of  such. low  character  that  the 
people  who  frequent  them  will  not  testify  to  the  truth.  As  above  stated,  con- 
ditions on  the  whole  in  this  county  with  reference  to  the  enforcement  of  the  pr(> 
hibitory  liquor  law  are  first  class,  far  better  than  they  have  been  for  years  and 
years.  Any  information  I  can  give  you  further,  will  be  gladly  given. 

Yours  truly, 

C.  A.  McNEILL. 


JUDGE  PRATT. 

Atwood,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  State  House,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  Replying  to  your  favor  of  the  I9th  inst.,  will  say  that  in 
the  trials  of  cases  for  the  violation  of  the  prohibitory  law  in  this  district  where 
the  evidence  is  sufficient,  there  has  been  no  difficulty  in  securing  convictions. 
In  some  of  the  cases  quite  a  number  of  the  jurymen  were  foreign  born,  and 
because  of  this  fears  were  entertained  by  the  prosecuting  attorney  that  the 
jury  would  hang,  yet  convictions  were  secured  the  same  as  in  other  cases  where 
no  foreigners  were  on  the  jury.  In  short,  convictions  occur  in  this  class  of 
cases  as  easily  as  in  other  criminal  actions.  I  see  no  difference.  In  this  district 
the  prohibitory  law  is  well  respected  and  very  few  violations  occur,  and  these 
are  committed  secretly  and  in  out-of-the-way  places.  Since  the  people  have 
experienced  and  enjoyed  the  benefits  and  improvements  in  society,  brought 
about  by  reason  of  enforcement  of  the  law,  it  has  caused  a  wonderful  change 
in  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  law.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  at  least  85  per 
cent  are  in  favor  of  the  law  and  its  enforcement.  I  am,  yours  truly, 

W.  H.  PRATT,  Judge  Seventeenth  Judicial  District. 


JUDGE    FISHER. 

Kansas  City,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 

Dear  Governor :     I  haven't  tried  any,  but  past  experiences  in  this  county 
would  indicate  that  they  are.  Respectfully, 

E.  D.  FISHER. 


JUDGE  KING. 

Marvin,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 

Dear  Governor:  In  reply  to  the  above  question  will  say  it  is  not.  The 
sentiment  is  so  general  in  support  of  the  prohibitory  law  and  its  enforcement, 
that  there  is  no  distinction  or  difference  between  it  and  other  criminal  laws  in 
securing  convictions  for  its  violation.  Yours  truly, 

R.  L.  KING. 


FROM  THE  MAYORS  OF  VARIOUS  CITIES. 
The  Following  Telegram  Was  Sent  on   March  16  to  the  Mayors  of  the 

Larger  Cities. 


"Wire  me  tonight,  collect,  if  prohibitory  laws  are  enforced  strictly  in  your 
city.    If  so  what  is  the  effect  on  population,  business,  bank  deposits,  property 

24 


values,  rents,  crime  and  drunkenness?     What  proportion  of  your  people  favor 
the  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law?    Answer  fully, 

"W.  R.  STUBBS,  Governor." 
The  responses  are  as  follows: 

MAYOR  MARTIN. 

Hutchinson,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibitory  laws  are  rigidly  enforced.  Majority  in  favor  so  overwhelming, 
no  opposition.  Gratifying  increase  in  population,  business  and  all  property  values. 
Splendid  spirit  of  good  feeling  among  all  classes  and  extensive  public  improve- 
ments being  made.  This  city  is  practically  free  from  the  criminal  element, 
drunkenness  and  crime.  Bank  deposits  heaviest  in  city's  history.  All  lines  of 
business  prosperous  and  the  laboring  people  employed. 

F.  L.  MARTIN,  Mayor. 


MAYOR   BLAKE. 

Columbus,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

This  is  a  strictly  prohibition  little  city.  Has  been  for  the  last  twenty 
years.  Our  city  is  prosperous  as  the  volume  of  business  done  will  show.  We 
would  not  have  saloons  or  intoxicants  sold  here  even  if  every  city  in  Kansas 
permitted  it.  Even  men  who  drink,  that  live  here,  would  not  vote  saloons  in  our 
city.  Our  taxes  are  as  reasonable  as  one  desires. 

G.  R.  BLAKE. 


MAYOR  ALLAMAN. 

Atchison,  Kan.,  March  17,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibitory  law  strictly  enforced,  thirty-eight  saloons  of  two  years  ago  gone. 
All  buildings  filled  at  higher  rents.  Population  increasing.  Property  values 
higher.  City  employes'  salaries  increased  12  per  cent.  Bank  deposits  in  two 
years  increased  39  per  cent,  robberies  and  other  crimes  decreased  75  per  cent, 
drunks  arrested  decreased  50  per  cent.  More  public  improvements  and  private 
buildings  contracted  for  this  year  than  any  year  under  saloons.  Merchants  trust 
hundreds  of  laborers  that  they  would  not  under  saloons.  More  money  goes  for 
food,  not  booze.  Seventy-five  per  cent  or  more  are  favorable  to  "dry"  town; 
city  treasury  in  good  condition. 

DR.  G.  W.  ALLAMAN,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  BISHOP. 

Lawrence,  Kan.,  March  18,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

In  answer  to  your  message  I  would  say :  The  prohibitory  law  is  strictly  en- 
forced in  Lawrence.  Police  department  instructed  to  enforce  law  without  fear 
of  punishment  or  hope  of  reward.  This  department  followed  my  instructions. 
Population  rapidly  increasing.  This  census  will  show  Lawrence  to  be  a  city  of 
first-class.  Business  never  better.  It  is  a  hard  matter  to  find  an  idle  man  in  this 
city.  Laborers  are  prosperous,  their  children  go  to  school,  well  dressed,  and 
their  wives  are  happy.  During  the  past  year  property  all  over  the  city  has  in- 
creased in  value  25  per  cent.  Rents  are  good.  With  scarcely  an  empty 
house,  either  residence  or  business  in  the  entire  city.  The  criminal  docket  is 
50  per  cent  less  than  formerly  and  you  hardly  ever  see  a  drunken  man  on  the 
street.  Ninety-five  per  cent  favor  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law 
in  this  city.  In  conclusion  would  say  that  Lawrence  was  never  in  any  more 
prosperous  condition  than  she  is  today.  Her  people  are  happy  and  industrious, 
her  financial  condition  is  good.  Public  improvement  is  going  on  at  a  tremendous 
pace  and  her  improvement  bonds  are  now  selling  at  home  and  abroad  at  i^  per 
cent  premium.  S.  D.  BISHOP,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  DAVIDSON 

Wichita,  Kan.,  March  16,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibitory  laws  are  strictly  enforced  in  Wichita.  Liquor  sold  only  by 
bootleggers  and  under  federal  protection.  Business  was  never  better  than  under 
present  system.  Bank  deposits  have  increased.  Population  has  increased  25 
per  cent  in  the  last  year.  Wichita  has  the  smallest  per  capita  police  force  of 

25 


any  city  in  the  United  States,  showing  a  large  decrease  in  crime.     Rents  have 
advanced  and  as  a  result  there  is  no  demand  or  sentiment  for  old  conditions. 

C  L.  DAVIDSON,  Mayor. 

MAYOR   ABERNATHY. 

Leavenworth,  Kan.,  March  16,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibitory  law  is  more  rigidly  enforced  in  Leavenworth  now  than  ever 
before  in  its  history.  Some  bootlegging  and  pocket  traffic  is  carried  on,  but 
gradually  being  driven  out.  Crime  is  much  reduced,  although  drunkenness  has 
not  greatly  decreased  due  to  our  proximity  to  Kansas  City  where  the  soldiers 
go  for  liquor.  Leavenworth's  population  has  increased  according  to  census  re- 
ports over  three  thousand  in  past  two  years.  And  records  show  that  real  estate 
values  are  considerably  enhanced,  and  past  two  years  transfers  have  been  best 
in  city's  history.  ^  From  officers  of  the  various  banks,  I  learn  that  deposits  from 
business  and  individuals  have  increased  over  half  million  during  past  eighteen 
months.  The  increase  is  especially  noted  in  the  savings  department,  indicating 
that  the  laboring  man  is  saving  his  money  instead  of  spending  it  for  drink.  The 
merchants  here,  almost  without  exception,  report  the  best  two  years  of  business 
ever  experienced.  The  efforts  of  enforcement  of  prohibitory  law  here  have 
been  very  beneficial  to  this  city  and  the  movement  is  growing  in  favor  rapidly. 
I  will  venture  to  say  that  fully  75  per  cent  of  population  favor  its  enforcement. 

OMAR  ABERNATHY,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  HOYT. 

Pittsburg,  Kan.,  March  16,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibitory  law  well  enforced.  Business  good.  Bank  deposits  higher  than 
ever  before  in  history  of  the  city.  Crime  and  drunkenness  decreased.  Property 
values  and  rents  little  lower  than  before  the  panic.  Good  safe  majority  of  our 
population  in  favor  of  law  enforcement. 

.E.  B.  HOYT,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  SLATER. 

Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Ottawa,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 

I  have  your  wire  asking  for  information  in  regard  to  the  enforcement  of 
the  prohibitory  laws  in  our  city.  We  certainly  are  much  pleased  with  the  condi- 
tions as  they  exist  at  the  present  time.  Upwards  of  85  per  cent  of  our  entire 
population  are  strictly  in  favor  of  enforcing  the  laws.  It  is  a  great  benefit  to 
the  city  from  every  standpoint.  I  talked  with  some  of  our  business  men  today 
who  were  very  much  opposed  to  the  prohibitory  laws  at  the  time  they  were  first 
proposed  in  Kansas.  They  tell  me  they  would  not  under  any  circumstances  be 
willing  to  go  back  to  saloons.  We  have  a  fine  city  and  are  proud  of  the  same. 
We  have  a  new  industry  here,  the  Batelle  car  works,  and  men  are  coming  here 
to  seek  employment  and  a  great  many  of  them  are  men  that  have  been  in  cities 
where  they  have  seen  open  saloons  and  are  coming  here  for  the  reason  that  there 
are  not  saloons  and  it  is  making  them  better  citizens.  They  are  saving  money 
and  some  are  buying  homes  on  the  installment  plan  who  never  before  tried  to 
save  money.  Our  business  houses  are  occupied  and  are  at  a  premium,  rents  have 
advanced,  150  new  homes  are  being  built  this  year  and  every  line  of  business  is 
prosperous.  Crime  has  constantly  decreased  since  the  enforcement  of  the  pro- 
hibitory laws  and  in  fact  a  great  deal  of  the  time  we  practically  have  no  use  for 
jails.  City  improvements  are  in  progress  and  we  are  going  to  put  down  three 
miles  of  paving  this  year  and  build  a  new  city  hall.  All  manner  of  public  im- 
provements are  under  progress.  In  conclusion  will  say  we  have  one  of  the  best, 
cleanest  and  most  up-to-date  cities  in  Kansas,  and  would  invite  and  solicit  your 
inspection  of  the  same.  If  you  want  a  good  place  to  live,  if  you  want  a  good 
city  either  for  business  or  residence,  come  to  Ottawa. 

A.  H.  SLATER,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  ROBERTS. 

Garden  City,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Replying  to  yours  of  the  igth  relative  to  the  liquor  business  in  our  city  will 
say  that  there  is  not  a  saloon  or  joint  in  the  city  and  has  not  been  for  twenty- 
five  years.  That  there  is  not  a  business  house  vacant  in  the  town  and  we  are 

26 


compelled  to  build.  Real  estate  is  higher  than  ever  before  and  our  streets  are 
well  lighted.  Little  or  no  drunkenness  on  our  streets  and  our  taxes  are  not 
burdensome.  Our  city  never  collected  one  dollar  of  taxes  from  a  saloon  or 
joint-keeper  during  all  its  history. 

ZEPH  ROBERTS,  Acting  Mayor. 


MAYOR  ABBOTT. 

Chanute,  Kan.,  March  22,   1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

The  prohibitory  law  is  weH  enforced  in  this  city.  Our  business  in  all  lines 
is  prosperous.  To  see  a  drunken  man  on  our  streets  is  rare.  Our  city  has 
invested  about  $100,000  each  year  for  several  years  past  in  paving  streets, 
building  sewers,  extending  our  water  works  system.  Our  factories  are  behind 
in  their  orders  for  our  products.  No  empty  business  houses.  Our  people  are 
busy,  sober  and  enterprising.  Nobody  desires  open  saloons,  they  are  discredited 
relics  of  a  by-gone  age.  Respectfully, 

F.  M.  ABBOTT,  Mayor. 


'MAYOR  MUENZENMAYER. 

Junction  City,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibitory  law  is  being  enforced  without  marked  increase  in  taxes.  Busi- 
ness is  better,  real  estate  higher,  more  improvements  made,  the  city  in  better 
shape  financially,  less  poor  to  be  taken  care  of,  criminal  court  business  nearly 
wiped  out.  No  murder  in  three  years.  Formerly  common  affair,  we  are  on  a 
higher  plane.  W.  F.  MUENZENMAYER,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  KENNETT. 

Concordia,  Kan.,  "March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Prohibition  has  increased  business.  It  has  almost  entirely  eliminated  drunk- 
enness and  greatly  reduced  crime.  Not  one-tenth  being  sold  that  was  under 
non-enforcement.  Liquor  now  carried  in  valises  formerly  came  by  car  loads, 
taxation  no  greater;  business  houses  all  occupied  and  greatest  cause  of  turmoil 
and  quarrels  removed.  HOMER  KENNETT,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  WALLACE. 

Winfield,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  Gov.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

In  reply  to  your  telegram  will  state  that  I  believe  that  there  is  less  liquor 
sold  in  Winfield  than  there  has  been  at  any  time  in  my  knowledge  of  the  town, 
which  has  been  about  thirty-two  years.  We  have  an  occasional  bootlegger  that 
will  sell  bottles  of  liquor  from  his  pocket,  but  the  first  man  that  gets  drunk 
gives  him  away  and  causes  his  arrest.  In  that  way  we  eliminate  the  bootlegger. 
Joints  are  things  of  past  in  our  city.  As  to  vacant  property  we  have  none,  on 
other  hand  we  have  erected  about  seventy-five  residences  each  year  for  past  two 
years.  Property  values  have  increased  at  least  one-third  and  rentals  at  least  one- 
fourth.  Bank  deposits  past  two  years  have  increased  thirty-three  and  one-third 
per  cent.  Laboring  men  are  all  employed  and  invest  their  money  in  necessaries 
of  life  and  purchase  homes  for  themselves  and  betterment  of  their  families.  At 
least  90  per  cent  of  our  people  favor  prohibition  laws  in  state,  in  fact  you  can 
hardly  find  anyone  that  would  want  to  go  back  to  the  old  system. 

CHAS.  M.  WALLACE,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  KIRTLAND. 

Salina,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

For  several  years  after  prohibition  amendment  was  adopted  Salina  collected 
fines  from  joints.  Quite  a  revenue  was  derived,  but  it  was  all  expended  in  court 
costs  and  care  of  criminals  and  destitute  poor,  made  so  from  the  effect  of  the 
liquor  traffic.  No  relief  for  the  tax  payer  was  had  under  this  system.  Every 
municipal  election  was  fought  on  the  issue  of  "wet"  or  "dry"  and  no  thought 
was  given  to  the  business  interests  of  the  city.  This  plan  has  been  abandoned. 
No  man  can  now  be  elected  to  office  who  is  known  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the 
liquor  business.  The  results  are  very  gratifying.  We  have  time  to  give  attention 
to  the  business  interests  of  the  city.  It  is  very  rare  a  drunken  man  can  be  seen 
on  our  streets.  The  laborers  are  buying  and  building  homes  and  Saturday 

27 


nights  the  streets  are  crowded  with  them  and  their  families  enjoying  the  benefits 
of  an  industrious  life.  Public  improvements  are  going  forward  as  never  before. 
No  empty  rooms  or  buildings  in  the  city.  Building  permits  this  month  aggre- 
gate $80,000.  Over  two  million  dollars  on  deposit  in  our  banks  and  the  town 
full  of  boys  grown  to  manhood  who  have  never  seen  an  open  saloon.  I  look  for 
national  prohibition  within  ten  years  time. 

C.  B.  KIRTLAND,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  HUNTER. 

Wellington,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Wellington  has  not  had  an  open  saloon  for  twenty-five  years,  nor  an  open 
joint  for  ten  years.  There  has  been  more  material  prosperity  and  a  greater  in- 
crease in  population  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  city.  No  decent 
citizen,  no  person  worth  haying  as  a  citizen,  would  permit  a  saloon  or  joint  to 
run  or  even  open  in  their  city.  GEO.  H.  HUNTER. 


MAYOR  MOSES. 

Independence,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Governor  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

This  is  one  of  the  cities  of  Kansas  that  strictly  enforces  the  prohibitory 
law  of  the  state.  We  have  no  empty  store  rooms.  No  empty  houses.  Real 
estate  has  not  decreased  in  value.  Taxes  are  not  burdensome.  -  Crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors are  scarce  and  all  conditions  are  better  because  of  said  enforcement. 

F.  C.  MOSES,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  WAITE. 

Parsons,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Since  prohibition  our  arrests  for  crime  have  been  reduced  over  50  per 
cent.  Decrease  in  the  sale  of  liquor  has  been  over  75  per  cent.  No  increase 
in  taxes.  No  vacant  business  houses  in  our  city.  Real  estate  has  doubled  in  the 
past  four  years.  J.  L.  WAITE,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  MITCHELL. 

Beloit,  Kan.,  March  21,   1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

My  Dear  Governor:  Answering  your  letter  of  the  ioth  inst,  as  to  the 
charges  made  by  the  liquor  and  brewery  interests  in  the  Chicago  fight  for  pro- 
hibition, in  which  they  charge  that  prohibition  in  Kansas  has  worked  great 
havoc  with  our  business  and  caused  more  drunkenness  and  crime,  than  prevailed 
under  the  open  saloon. 

You  say  they  charge  also  that  more  liquor  is  being  sold  in  Kansas  than  ever 
before;  that  it  makes  taxation  burdensome;  that  our  business  houses  are  vacant, 
and  that  it  has  reduced  the  value  of  real  estate  all  over  the  state. 

Now  so  far  as  Beloit,  and  Mitchell  county  are  concerned  these  charges  are 
not  true,  but  on  the  other  hand  are  absolutely  false.  Since  I  was  elected  mayor 
of  Beloit  nine  years  ago,  there  has  not  been  an  open  saloon  in  our  town.  The 
wholesale  liquor  dealers  and  brewers  of  Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  by 
their  Richard  Roe  &  John  Doe  C.  O.  D.  Express  Co.,  shipments  made  us  lots  of 
trouble,  but  they  can't  do  it  any  more,  under  the  present  law.  Now  and  then 
a  bootlegger  causes  us  some  trouble  yet,  but  we  get  him  first  or  last,  and  he 
dont  bootleg  any  more.  Now  for  the  truth  of  their  charges.  Nobody's  business 
has  been  wrecked  or  gone  to  havoc  except  it  be  the  saloon  man.  There  are  no 
vacant  business  houses  in  our  town,  but  we  are  building  many  new  and  larger 
ones  today.  Real  estate  has  more  than  thribbled  in  value  in  the  last  six  years, 
both  in  the  city,  and  the  country  surrounding  it,  our  banks  are  full  to  over- 
flowing with  the  people's  money.  Drunkenness  is  almost  unknown  in  our  city, 
the  man  now  to  get  drunk  must  go  to  Kansas  City,  or  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  or  send 
his  money  there  and  have  it  shipped  to  him  here  and  that's  most  too  much  trouble 
for  so  little  gain.  Our  city  taxes  may  be  a  trifle  higher  since  we  quit  licensing 
the  saloons,  but  nobody  complains,  our  people  prefer  prohibition  as  we  now  have 
it  today,  no  matter  how  high  you  put  the  license. 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  M.  MITCHELL,  Mayor. 

28 


MAYOR  GRIMES. 

Hiawatha,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Subbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  We  have  not  had  any  saloons  in  Hiawatha  for  thirty-five  years 
and  would  not  have  them  under  any  conditions.  Our  tax  is  as  low  as  any  other 
state  with  saloons ;  our  side  walks  are  better  than  in  many  other  cities ;  our 
homes  are  better  kept  than  in  many  cities  and  all  without  the  saloon  license,  very 
little  bootlegging  and  what  there  is,  is  very  soon  picked  up  and  punished.  We 
have  not  one  business  house  empty,  everything  full  and  all  doing  well  and  not 
any  empty  resident  houses,  and  not  any  poor  from  the  saloon  business,  as  we 
have  the  best  fed  and  housed  and  clothed  people  in  any  state,  where  they  have 
the  rum  trade ;  we  have  better  schools  and  churches  and  society  than  any  country 
where  they  have  saloons,  and  property  is  not  running  down  in  price,  but  on  the 
boom,  city  property  is  high  and  farms  close  in  sell  very  high;  one  sold  last 
month  for  $350  per  acre,  not  very  well  improved.  -  That  does  not  look  as  if 
things  were  running  down  very  fast  and  I  know  by  talking  with  our  people  that 
90  per  cent  are  solid  for  prohibition. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

J.  T.  GRIMES,  Mayor. 


MAYOR  BROOKS. 

Fort  Scott,  Kan.,  March  22,  1910. 
Governor  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Every  business  house  occupied  by  from  ten  to  fifteen  saloons  under  r.~n- 
enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law  now  occupied  by  legitimate  mercantile 
business;  new  business  houses  built  and  none  vacant.  Rents  have  advanced  ma- 
terially. Public  expense  of  sustaining  poor  families  reduced  one-fourth  or  more. 
Percentage  of  crimes  reduced  materially  and  cost  of  policing  city  diminished 
proportionately.  My  judgment  is  the  people  of  Fort  Scott  -.vouicl  vote  three 
to  one  against  opening  saloons  here  after  being  without  them  and  their  revenue 
three  years.  W.  E.  BROOKS,  Mayor. 

MAYOR  McCAIN. 

Emporia,  Kan.,  March  17,4910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  State  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Replying  to  your  message  of  March  nth,  1910,  will  say  that  the 
City  of  Emporia  is  in  better  shape  at  present  than  it  has  ever  been.  About  TOO 
houses  were  built  last  season  and  practically  there  are  no  vacant  houses  in  town 
at  present,  rents  are  as  high  as  they  have  ever  been,  and  when  residence  property 
changes  hands  it  brings  nearer  what  it  cost  to  build  than  it  ever  has.  There  is 
very  little  crime  and  almost  no  drunkenness.  We  do  not  pick  up  a  drunk  once  a 
month.  The  bank  deposits  are  at  a  very  high  state,  and  the  people  are  generally 
prosperous.  I  believe  that  90  per  cent  of  the  people  favor  prohibition  and  its 
enforcement.  Yours  truly, 

FRANK  McCAIN,  Mayor. 


FROM  POLICE  CHIEFS  AND  CITY  MARSHALS 

Answering  Requests   From  Governor  Stubbs  on  the  Condition  of  Law  En- 
forcement the  Following  Letters    Were    Received    From 
Chiefs   of  Police  and  City  Marshals. 


Answering  requests  from  Governor  Stubbs  on  the  condition  of  law  enforce- 
ment the  following  letters  were  received  from  chiefs  of  police  and  city  marshals : 

J.  E.  READY. 

Chanute,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  Am  in  receipt  of  your  communication  this  a.  m.,  and  will  say  in 
reply,  that  our  former  chief  rigidly  enforced  the  law  therefore  we  had  a  larger 
percentage  of  arrests  for  drunkenness,  but  believe  that  I  am  perfectly  safe  in 
saying  drinking  has  diminished  at  least  two-thirds  and  crimes  growing  put  of 
drunkenness  are  almost  a  thing  of  the  past.  Am  personally  acquainted  with  the 
former  chief  and  well  acquainted  in  Chanute.  Will  frankly  say  we  have  a  clean 
little  city  and  it  will  be  my  one  effort  to  keep  it  so  while  in  office.  Took  my 
oath  of  office  two  days  a^o.  Trusting  this  satisfactorily  answers  your  com- 
munication I  beg  to  remain,  Yours  very  respectfully, 

J.  E.  READY,  Chief  of  Police. 

29 


HUTCHINSON. 

W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor. 

In  answer  to  yours  of  ipth  day  of  March,  1910:  July,  1908,  drunks  127; 
total  arrests,  241.  Fines  assessed,  $1,103.  Fines  collected  $812.65.  July,  1909, 
drunks,  16;  total  arrests  46.  Fines  assessed,  $678.00;  fines  collected,  $461.00. 

G.  T.  HERN,  Chief  of  Police. 

L.  M.  UNDERWOOD,  Sergeant. 


WINFIELD. 

Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  inquiry  of  March  19,  received  and  contents  noted. 
Will  say  that  since  the  policy  of  rigidly  enforcing  the  prohibitory  law  was  be- 
gun in  Winfield  that  drunkenness  has  diminished  at  least  85  per  cent  and  crime 
growing  out  of  drunkenness  has  diminished  in  like  ratio.  I  have  been  connected 
with  the  police  department  in  Winfield  most  of  the  time  since  1884  and  ought  to 
be  a  fairly  good  judge.  Yours  very  truly, 

JAS.  McLAIN,  City  Marshal. 

EMPORIA. 

Emporia,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  The  time  for  actual  data  is  too  limited  to  give  actual  figures  as 
to  decrease  of  crime  caused  by  drunkenness  in  Emporia.  But  from  reliable 
sources  and  my  experience  as  city  marshal  for  the  past  seven  years  crime  directly 
attributed  to  the  use  of  intoxicants  has  decreased  from  50  to  60  per  cent 
since  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law  in  Kansas. 

Yours  truly, 

THOMAS  FRANCIS,  City  Marshal. 


MANHATTAN. 

Manhattan,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  your  inquiry  of  the  I9th  will  say  that  there  has 
been  material  decrease  in  drunkenness  since  strict  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory 
law.  Yours  respectfully, 

WM.  DOUGHERTY,  City  Marshal. 


WELLINGTON. 

Wellington,  Kan.,  March  21,   1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  Yours  of  March  19,  at  hand  and  will  say  in  reply  that  crime  is 
on  the  decrease.  As  to  whiskey,  there  is  not  as  much  drank  as  there  was  but 
bootleggers  are  still  doing  business  and  they  are  hard  to  convict.  For  a  man 
that  will  buy  and  drink  bootleg  whiskey  will  swear  to  a  lie  to  protect  the  boot- 
legger. If  there  was  a  law  so  a  man  could  get  a  search  warrant  for  a  private 
house,  where  you  were  almost  certain  they  were  selling,  it  would  help  out.  I 
believe  this  is  all  the  information  I  can  give.  I  will  close. 

Yours  truly, 

C.  C.  SHAWVER,  City  Marshal. 


WICHITA. 

Wichita,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  igth  inst.,  would  say  that  in  our  court 
there  is  a  slight  increase  in  crime,  growing  out  of  drunkenness,  but  I  don't  see 
as  many  drunkards  on  the  street  as  before  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  pro- 
hibitory law.  As  our  city  is  larger  in  population,  the  increase  might  be  expected 
as  far  as  crime  is  concerned.  For  exact  figures  it  might  be  well  to  inquire  at 
the  police  court.  Yours  respectfully, 

C.  W.  ROOT,  Marshal  of  City  Court. 


GARDEN    CITY. 

Garden  City,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  State  of  Kansas,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:     I  received  your  inquiry  today  in  regard  to  enforcement  of  the 

30 


prohibitory  law  and  in  reply  will  say  that  I  have  been  deputy  marshal  here  since 
yT2!'  IQ09'  -was  aPP°in.ted  city  marshal  January  13,  1909. 

find  that  crime  and  disorder  diminish  accordingly  with  the  strict  en- 
forcement of  the  prohibitory  law,  or  even  by  the  employment  of  officers. that  are 
known  to  favor  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  law.  Where  there  is  no  secret 
itective  force,  as  is  the  case  here,  actual  convictions  are  hard  to  secure.  Gar- 
den City  has  a  population  of  perhaps  4,500  persons  and  there  is  but  the  one  city 
marshal  Have  had  only  one  drunk  before  the  police  judge  in  four  weeks  and 
would  also  state  that  when  the  sugar  mill  closed  here  in  January  throwing 
perhaps  /.oo  men  out  of  employment  not  a  single  arrest  was  necessary  for  any 
city  ordinance  or  state  law.  No  extra  police  or  extra  help  has  been  required 
through  this  time.  Hoping  that  the  above  will  be  satisfactory,  I  remain, 
Yours  respectfully, 

A.  LINCOLN  LOGAN,  City  Marshal. 

OTTAWA. 

Ottawa,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  will  say  that  drunkenness  has  diminished 
5  per  cent  and  I  know  we  have  at  least  50  per  cent  less  cases  in  police  court 
growing  out  of  liquor  than  we  had  before  the  prohibitory  law  was  strictly  en- 
forced. While  I  have  been  an  officer  here  for  four  years  I  have  given  this 
question  very  close  attention.  Our  people  are  highly  in  favor  of  the  prohibitory 
law  and  its  enforcement.  Yours  very  truly 

F.  T.  BRUNER,  Chief  of  Police. 

INDEPENDENCE. 

Independence,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
r.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Governor:  Yours  just  received.  Will  say  that  in  regard  to  the  in- 
formation that  you  are  seeking  that  since  the  prohibitory  law  is  enforced  there 
is  not  more  than  40  per  cent  sent  up  as  were  before  it  was  enforced.  In  regard 
to  bootleggers  if  we  could  get  the  federal  authorities  to  take  hold  and  handle 
some  of  them  for  us  I  think  that  would  stop  a  great  deal  of  bootlegging.  We 
have  arrested  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  bootleggers  and  convicted  them  in  the 
last  eight  months,  and  have  not  got  all  of  them  yet,  but  will  be  found  trying  to 
get  them.  I  think  if  some  of  them  were  handled  by  the  government  it  would  be 
a  great  help.  I  remain  yours  respectfully. 

D.  M.  VANCLEAVE,  Chief  of  Police. 


CONCORDIA. 

W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  Replying  to  your  letter  of  inquiry,  igth  inst.  as  to  increase  or 
decrease  of  drunkenness,  will  say  that  in  my  eleven  years'  work  with  the  sheriff's 
office,  and  police  force  here,  drunkenness  has  decreased  75  per  cent 
and  crimes  usually  brought  about  by  drink  have  decreased  in  about  the  same 
proportion.  To  explain,  in  February,  1898,  our  county  jail  had  in  it  eleven 
prisoners,  seven  charged  with  felony.  During  the  three  years  and  four  months, 
which  I  had  charge  of  the  jail,  beginning  at  above  date,  the  average  number 
confined  therein  was  five,  since  which  time  the  average  has  fallen  to  one,  the 
jail  being  empty  one-half  the  time.  In  1899  the  average  Saturday  sales  of  booze 
as  reported  by  the  three  joint  keepers  was  $150  each  or  $450  by  all  of  them,  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  sales  by  drug  stores  and  other  sources  amounted  to  $50  more. 
The  average  number  of  arrests  and  trials  in  police  court  has  not  fallen  off  in  as 
large  a  per  cent  for  the  reason  that  arrests  are  made  now  for  offences  that  were 
formerly  unnoticed.  The  sudden  change  of  front  recently  made  by  our  county 
attorney  and  the  short  visit  made  to  this  county  by  one  of  the  attorney  general's 
assistants,  has  made  a  perceptibly  good  effect  in  checking  bootlegging.  No  ar- 
rests have  been  made  in  our  county  the  present  month  for  any  other  offense  than 
booze  selling,  and  gambling.  While  the  above  report  is  somewhat  rambling  I 
believe  it  is  in  the  main  true,  I  will  cheerfully  answer  any  question  the  state 
officers  may  send  out.  I  have  some  information  as  to  how  the  booze  handled  by 
bootleggers  gets  into  the  state,  I  deem  it  to  be  of  no  use  to  give  this  information 
to  our  local  revenue  officers,  for  the  reason  that  such  information  as  I  have 
given  them  has  been  used  for  a  different  purpose  than  intended,  and  differently 
than  it  should  have  been. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

C.  E.  BENTLEY,  City  Marshal. 

31 


BELOIT. 

Beloit,  Kan.,  March  20,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir:  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  iQth,  will  say,  that  in  my  opinion  the 
percentage  of  drunkenness  and  crime  has  decreased  fully  op  per  cent,  under  the 
strict  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law.  I  have  occupied  the  office  of  city 
marshal  for  the  past  sixteen  years,  and  am  therefore  in  a  position  to  make  a 
close  estimate ;  our  chief  trouble  here  is  from  liquor  that  is  shipped  in  by  private 
parties.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

SAMUEL  BANKS. 


HIAWATHA. 

Hiawatha,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Topeka,  Kan. 

Dear  Sir :  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  I9th,  will  say  that  drunkenness  and  the 
crimes  growing  out  of  the  use  of  liquor  has  diminished  at  least  75  per  cent  since 
the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law  in  our  city.  Our  greatest  trouble 
is  suppressing  the  "bootleggers"  who  get  their  supplies  from  Nebraska. 

Truly  yours, 

S.  VANOVER,  City  Marshal. 

LEAVENWORTH. 

Leaven  worth,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor. 

Dear  Sir :  Replying  to  your  letter  of  the  I9th  inst,  I  have  to  say  that  in 
order  to  determine  "ratio  of  increase  or  decrease  of  crime"  since  the  policy  of 
rigidly  enforcing  the  prohibitory  law  in  this  city  began,  it  would  be  necessary 
for  me  to  go  back  over  the  records  for  a  given  period  prior  to  that  time,  and 
that  would  prevent  a  prompt  reply  to  your  letters.  There  have  been  465  arrests 
for  drunkenness  from  April  ist,  1909,  up  to  and  including  March  2Oth,  19^3. 
Many  of  these  cases  were  "drunks  from  Kansas  City,"  and  are  not  chargeati1 
to  leaks  in  this  city.  Without  being  in  possession  of  exact  figures,  I  venture 
the  statement  that  we  are  making  more  arrests  for  drunkenness  in  homes  than 
formerly,  and  that  on  a  call  from  some  member  of  the  family.  This  shows  that 
the  intoxicants  are  being  taken  to  the  homes  of  those  who  will  not  do  without  It. 
Of  course  we  have  those  with  us  who  try  to  run  joints.  They  are  migrati  •- -, 
moving  from  place  to  place,  but  on  the  whole  Leavenworth  is  as  law-abiding  city 
as  any  in  the  state,  and  more  so  than  some,  as  the  records  show. 

Very  respectfully, 

J.  T.  TAYLOR,  Chief  of  Police. 

PITTSBURG. 

Pittsburg,  Kan.,  March  21,  1910. 
Hon.  W.  R.  Stubbs,  Governor  of  Kansas. 

Dear  Sir:    Your  letter  of  March  19,  1910,  received  and  will  send  you  polic. 
reports  from  April  ist,  1907,  to  March  21,  1910,  giving  the  number  of  arrests  v 
each  month,  and  also  showing  that  the  prohibitory  ordinance  was  passed  in  Mo 
1908.    Hoping  that  this  will  give  you  what  information  you  may  want,  I  rems 

Yours  very-  truly, 

I.  N.  SKINNER,  Chief  of  Police. 


YC  07518 


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